1956 U.S. National Championships – Women's singles

First-seeded Shirley Fry defeated Althea Gibson 6–3, 6–4 in the final to win the women's singles tennis title at the 1956 U.S. National Championships.

Seeds
The seeded players are listed below. Shirley Fry is the champion; others show in brackets the round in which they were eliminated.


 * 1) 🇺🇸 Shirley Fry (champion)
 * 2) 🇺🇸 Althea Gibson (finalist)
 * 3) 🇺🇸 Louise Brough (quarterfinals)
 * 4) 🇺🇸 Dorothy Knode (quarterfinals)
 * 5) 🇺🇸 Margaret duPont (quarterfinals)
 * 6) 🇬🇧 Shirley Bloomer (semifinals)
 * 7) 🇺🇸 Betty Pratt (semifinals)
 * 8) 🇺🇸 Darlene Hard (quarterfinals)

Key

 * Q = Qualifier
 * WC = Wild card
 * LL = Lucky loser
 * r = Retired