# 1996 Bank of the West Classic – Singles

Magdalena Maleeva was the defending champion but lost in the first round to Kimberly Po.
Martina Hingis won in the final 6–2, 6–0 against Monica Seles.

## Seeds

A champion seed is indicated in bold text while text in italics indicates the round in which that seed was eliminated. The top four seeds received a bye to the second round.
* Monica Seles (final)
* Lindsay Davenport (quarterfinals)
* Martina Hingis (champion)
* Mary Joe Fernández (second round)
* Brenda Schultz-McCarthy (semifinals)
* Magdalena Maleeva (first round)
* Chanda Rubin (first round)
* Karina Habšudová (first round)

## Draw
### Key

* Q = Qualifier
* WC = Wild card
* LL = Lucky loser
* Alt = Alternate
* SE = Special exempt
* PR = Protected ranking
* ITF = ITF entry
* JE = Junior exempt
* w/o = Walkover
* r = Retired
* d = Defaulted
* SR = Special ranking

### Final

| Final | Final | Final | Final | Final |
| 1 | Monica Seles | 2 | 0 | |
| 3 | Martina Hingis | 6 | 6 | |

### Section 1

| First round | First round | First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals |
| | | | | | 1 | M Seles | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | |
| | P Hy-Boulais | 6 | 6 | 6 | | P Hy-Boulais | 1 | 2 | | | | | | | | |
| | Z Garrison-Jackson | 4 | 7 | 4 | | | | | 1 | M Seles | 6 | 7 | | | | |
| Q | M Werdel-Witmeyer | 7 | 6 | | | | | | | K Po | 2 | 5 | | | | |
| Q | B Mulej | 6 | 2 | | Q | M Werdel-Witmeyer | 4 | 4 | | | | | | | | |
| | K Po | 6 | 6 | | | K Po | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | |
| 6 | M Maleeva | 0 | 2 | | | | | | | | | | 1 | M Seles | 6 | 6 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | I Spîrlea | 3 | 3 |
| | | | | | 4 | M J Fernández | 3 | 1 | | | | | | | | |
| | E Likhovtseva | 2 | 7 | 6 | | E Likhovtseva | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | |
| | A Sugiyama | 6 | 6 | 2 | | | | | | E Likhovtseva | 2 | 4 | | | | |
| | Y Basuki | 1 | 6 | 2 | | | | | | I Spîrlea | 6 | 6 | | | | |
| | P Suárez | 6 | 1 | 6 | | P Suárez | 2 | 1 | | | | | | | | |
| | I Spîrlea | 6 | 6 | | | I Spîrlea | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | K Habšudová | 4 | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

### Section 2

| First round | First round | First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals |
| 7 | C Rubin | 2 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | L Wild | 6 | 7 | | | L Wild | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | |
| | R Stubbs | 2 | 7 | 3 | WC | P Shriver | 3 | 0 | | | | | | | | |
| WC | P Shriver | 6 | 6 | 6 | | | | | | L Wild | 3 | 2 | | | | |
| | K Studeníková | 1 | 1 | | | | | | 3 | M Hingis | 6 | 6 | | | | |
| | A Miller | 6 | 6 | | | A Miller | 4 | 4 | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | 3 | M Hingis | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | 3 | M Hingis | 7 | 6 |
| 5 | B Schultz-McCarthy | 1 | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | 5 | B Schultz-McCarthy | 6 | 3 |
| WC | V Williams | 6 | 4 | 4 | 5 | B Schultz-McCarthy | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | |
| Q | R Zrubáková | 6 | 6 | | Q | R Zrubáková | 2 | 4 | | | | | | | | |
| Q | L Poruri | 4 | 4 | | | | | | 5 | B Schultz-McCarthy | 6 | 6 | | | | |
| | N Tauziat | 6 | 2 | | | | | | 2 | L Davenport | 2 | 4 | | | | |
| | A Frazier | 7 | 6 | | | A Frazier | 1 | 4 | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | 2 | L Davenport | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | |