The 1986 Virginia Slims World Championship Series was the 14th season since the foundation of the Women's Tennis Association. It commenced on March 24, 1986, and concluded in December, 1986 after 41 events. The season was abbreviated in order to return the tour to a calendar year basis.
The Virginia Slims World Championship Series was the elite tour for professional women's tennis organised by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). It was held in place of the WTA Tour from 1983 until 1987 and featured tournaments that had previously been part of the Toyota Series and the Avon Series. It included the four Grand Slam tournaments and a series of other events. ITF tournaments were not part of the tour, although they awarded points for the WTA World Ranking. No Australian Open was held during 1986 due to the tournament start date being moved from November to January.
The table below shows the 1986 Virginia Slims World Championship Series schedule.
These tables present the number of singles (S), doubles (D), and mixed doubles (X) titles won by each player and each nation during the season, within all the tournament categories of the 1986 Virginia Slims World Championship Series: the Grand Slam tournaments, the Year-end championships and regular events. The players/nations are sorted by:
Below are the 1986 WTA year-end rankings (December 21, 1986) in both singles and doubles competition: