# 1996 Nokia Open – Singles

Linda Wild was the defending champion but lost in the quarterfinals to Tamarine Tanasugarn.
Fifth-seeded Wang Shi-ting won in the final 6–3, 6–4 against Chen Li-Ling.

## Seeds

A champion seed is indicated in bold text while text in italics indicates the round in which that seed was eliminated.
* Linda Wild (quarterfinals)
* Yayuk Basuki (quarterfinals)
* Sandrine Testud (semifinals)
* Naoko Kijimuta (quarterfinals)
* Wang Shi-ting (champion)
* Mana Endo (quarterfinals)
* Nana Miyagi (second round)
* Francesca Lubiani (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
| First round | First round | First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final | Final |
| 1 | L Wild | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | H Rosen | 3 | 0 | | 1 | L Wild | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Q | Y Hosoki | 6 | 6 | | Q | Y Hosoki | 3 | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | R Hiraki | 4 | 4 | | | | | | | 1 | L Wild | 4 | 4 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | T Tanasugarn | 6 | 7$^7$ | | | | | | | | T Tanasugarn | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Y-J Choi | 2 | 6$^4$ | | | T Tanasugarn | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| WC | J Chen | 2 | 3 | | 7 | N Miyagi | 1 | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 7 | N Miyagi | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | T Tanasugarn | 4 | 3 | | | | | |
| 4 | N Kijimuta | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | 5 | S-T Wang | 6 | 6 | | | | | |
| | H Inoue | 1 | 4 | | 4 | N Kijimuta | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| WC | L Li | 7 | 6 | | WC | L Li | 1 | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | C Morariu | 5 | 3 | | | | | | | 4 | N Kijimuta | 3 | 4 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Y Yoshida | 4 | 5 | | | | | | | 5 | S-T Wang | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | J-Q Yi | 6 | 7 | | | J-Q Yi | 5 | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Q | H Mochizuki | 4 | 4 | | 5 | S-T Wang | 7 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 5 | S-T Wang | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 5 | Wang Shi-ting | 6 | 6 |
| 6 | M Endo | 6 | 7 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Chen Li-Ling | 3 | 4 |
| | M Saeki | 1 | 5 | | 6 | M Endo | 7 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | S-H Park | 6 | 4 | 6 | | S-H Park | 5 | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | N Dechy | 3 | 6 | 3 | | | | | | 6 | M Endo | 2 | 6 | 5 | | | | | | | | | |
| | M-R Jeon | 3 | 7 | 7$^7$ | | | | | | 3 | S Testud | 6 | 4 | 7 | | | | | | | | | |
| Q | S Obata | 6 | 5 | 6$^3$ | | M-R Jeon | 6 | 5 | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | S Klösel | 3 | 0 | | 3 | S Testud | 2 | 7 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 3 | S Testud | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | 3 | S Testud | 7 | 4 | 4 | | | | |
| 8 | F Lubiani | 7 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | L-L Chen | 5 | 6 | 6 | | | | |
| | N van Lottum | 5 | 1 | | 8 | F Lubiani | 3 | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | L-L Chen | 6 | 7$^7$ | | | L-L Chen | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | T Križan | 4 | 6$^1$ | | | | | | | | L-L Chen | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | M Schnell | 6 | 3 | 4 | | | | | | 2 | Y Basuki | 2 | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Q | S Meier | 3 | 6 | 6 | Q | S Meier | 2 | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | A Serra Zanetti | 1 | 6$^2$ | | 2 | Y Basuki | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 2 | Y Basuki | 6 | 7$^7$ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |