Martina Navratilova defeated Evonne Goolagong Cawley in the final, 7–6, 6–4 to win the singles tennis title at the 1978 Virginia Slims Championships. It was her first Tour Finals singles title, and the first of an eventual record eight such titles.
| Singles | |
|---|---|
| 1978 Virginia Slims Championships | |
| Champion |  Martina Navratilova |
| Runner-up |  Evonne Goolagong Cawley |
| Score | 7–6(7–5), 6–4 |
| Draw | 8 |
| Seeds | 8 |
Chris Evert was the reigning champion, but did not qualify this year.
Seeds edit
Martina Navratilova (champion)
Evonne Goolagong Cawley (final)
Betty Stöve (round robin)
Virginia Wade (round robin)- Billie Jean King (round robin)
- Wendy Turnbull (third place)
- Rosemary Casals (fourth place)
- Kerry Reid (round robin)
Draw edit
Key edit
- 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
Finals edit
| Final | ||||||
| 1 | Martina Navratilova
| 77 | 6 | |||
| 2 | Evonne Goolagong Cawley
| 65 | 4 | |||
| Third place play-off | ||||||
| 6 | Wendy Turnbull
| 7 | 6 | |||
| 7 | Rosemary Casals
| 6 | 3 | |||
Round robin edit
Gold group edit
| Gold Group | Navratilova
|
 Stöve
|
Turnbull
|
Reid
|
RR W–L | Set W–L | Game W–L | Standings | |
| 1 | Martina Navratilova
|
6–2, 6–3 | 6–2, 6–1 | 6–2, 6–3 | 3–0 | 6–0 (100%) | 36–13 (73.5%) | 
| |
| 3 | Betty Stöve
|
2–6, 3–6 | 4–6, 3–6 | 7–6, 7–6 | 1–2 | 2–4 (33.3%) | 26–36 (42.0%) | 3 | |
| 6 | Wendy Turnbull
|
2–6, 1–6 | 6–4, 6–3 | 7–6, 6–1 | 2–1 | 4–2 (66.7%) | 28–26 (51.9%) | 
| |
| 8 | Kerry Reid
|
2–6, 3–6 | 6–7, 6–7 | 6–7, 1–6 | 0–3 | 0–6 (0.0%) | 24–39 (38.1%) | 4 |
Orange group edit
| Orange Group | Goolagong Cawley
|
 Wade
|
King
|
Casals
|
RR W–L | Set W–L | Game W–L | Standings | |
| 2 | E. Goolagong Cawley
|
6–0, 7–6 | w/o | 7–6, 6–4 | 3–0 | 4–0 (100%) | 20–16 (55.5%) |
| |
| 4 | Virginia Wade
|
0–6, 6–7 | 1–6, 6–2, 6–4 | 5–7, 6–3, 0–6 | 1–2 | 3–5 (37.5%) | 30–41 (42.3%) | 3 | |
| 5 | Billie Jean King
|
w/o | 6–1, 2–6, 4–6 | w/o | 0–3 | 1–2 (33.3%) | 12–13 (48.0%) | 4 | |
| 7 | Rosemary Casals
|
6–7, 4–6 | 7–5, 3–6, 6–0 | w/o | 2–1 | 2–3 (40.0%) | 26–24 (52.0%) |
|