1996 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles
| Men's Singles | |
|---|---|
| 1996 Wimbledon Championships | |
| Champion |
 Richard Krajicek
|
| Runner-up |
 MaliVai Washington
|
| Final score | 6–3, 6–4, 6–3 |
| Draw | 128 (16Q / 8WC) |
| Seeds | 16 |
Pete Sampras was the three-time defending champion, but he was upset in the quarterfinals by 17th seed Richard Krajicek. This would be Sampras' only loss at Wimbledon between 1993 and 2000.
Krajicek ended up winning the title, defeating other surprise finalist MaliVai Washington. Krajicek had originally been unseeded, but as the 17th ranked player in the Wimbledon seedings he replaced 7th seed Thomas Muster in the draw, when Muster withdrew shortly before the start of the tournament.
Notable was the number of high seeded men who were eliminated early, including 1992 champion Andre Agassi (No. 3), reigning French Open champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov (No. 5), Michael Chang (No. 6), and 1993 finalist Jim Courier (No. 9), all in the first round. Three-time champion Boris Becker, seeded no. 2, was eliminated in the third round when he withdrew from his match with Neville Godwin with a wrist injury.
Seventh seed Thomas Muster withdrew due to injury. His position in the draw was filled by the next highest ranked non-seeded player, Richard Krajicek, who was made a seed without being numbered. (Although Krajicek was shown as unseeded in the official souvenir programme during the championships, the committee ruled that he was seeded throughout and this is reflected in the final issue of the programme).
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