# 1998 Direct Line International Championships – Singles

Jana Novotná won in the final 6–1, 7–5 against Arantxa Sánchez Vicario. The two had reached the final the previous year but the match was cancelled in the first set due to persistent rain. Novotná went on to win the Wimbledon title two weeks later.

## 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.
* Jana Novotná (champion)
* Steffi Graf (quarterfinals)
* Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (final)
* Venus Williams (second round)
* Irina Spîrlea (quarterfinals)
* Anna Kournikova (semifinals)
* Nathalie Tauziat (first round)
* Ai Sugiyama (second 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 | Jana Novotná | 6 | 7 | |
| 3 | Arantxa Sánchez Vicario | 1 | 5 | |

### 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 | J Novotná | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | |
| Q | N Dechy | 6 | 6 | | Q | N Dechy | 2 | 2 | | | | | | | | |
| | F Li | 4 | 4 | | | | | | 1 | J Novotná | 6 | 7 | | | | |
| | S Pitkowski | 5 | 3 | | | | | | 5 | I Spîrlea | 4 | 5 | | | | |
| Q | K-A Guse | 7 | 6 | | Q | K-A Guse | 0 | 5 | | | | | | | | |
| | R Grande | 3 | 6 | 4 | 5 | I Spîrlea | 6 | 7 | | | | | | | | |
| 5 | I Spîrlea | 6 | 4 | 6 | | | | | | | | | 1 | J Novotná | 6 | 6 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | N Zvereva | 2 | 1 |
| | | | | | 4 | V Williams | 2 | 1 | | | | | | | | |
| | M Vento | 5 | 3 | | | N Zvereva | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | |
| | N Zvereva | 7 | 6 | | | | | | | N Zvereva | 7 | 6 | | | | |
| Q | T Panova | 7 | 3 | 1 | | | | | | M Serna | 6 | 2 | | | | |
| | M Serna | 6 | 6 | 6 | | M Serna | 6 | 7 | | | | | | | | |
| | E Likhovtseva | 6 | 4 | 8 | | E Likhovtseva | 4 | 5 | | | | | | | | |
| 7 | N Tauziat | 2 | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | |

### Section 2

| First round | First round | First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals |
| 8 | A Sugiyama | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | M Grzybowska | 4 | 4 | | 8 | A Sugiyama | 2 | 5 | | | | | | | | |
| | N Sawamatsu | 4 | 5 | | WC | S Williams | 6 | 7 | | | | | | | | |
| WC | S Williams | 6 | 7 | | | | | | WC | S Williams | 6 | 4 | 4 | | | |
| | T Tanasugarn | 6 | 6 | | | | | | 3 | A Sánchez Vicario | 4 | 6 | 6 | | | |
| | A Miller | 4 | 4 | | | T Tanasugarn | 2 | 5 | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | 3 | A Sánchez Vicario | 6 | 7 | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 3 | A Sánchez Vicario | w/o |
| 6 | A Kournikova | 2 | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | 6 | A Kournikova | |
| | A Fusai | 6 | 1 | 3 | 6 | A Kournikova | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | |
| | L Raymond | 0 | 6 | | Q | M de Swardt | 4 | 1 | | | | | | | | |
| Q | M de Swardt | 6 | 7 | | | | | | 6 | A Kournikova | 6 | 6 | 6 | | | |
| | Y Basuki | 4 | 3 | r | | | | | 2 | S Graf | 7 | 3 | 4 | | | |
| WC | S Smith | 6 | 3 | | WC | S Smith | 1 | 2 | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | 2 | S Graf | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | |