1978 WTA Tour
The 1978 WTA Tour consisted of a number of tennis tournaments for female tennis players. It was composed of the newly streamlined version of the Virginia Slims Circuit and the Colgate Series. The tour was administered by the Women's International Professional Tennis Council.
Schedule
This is a calendar of all events which were part of either the Virginia Slims circuit or the Colgate Series in the year 1978, with player progression documented from the quarterfinals stage. Also included are the Grand Slam tournaments, the 1978 Virginia Slims Championships, the 1978 Federation Cup and a number of events not affiliated with either tour.;Key
| Grand Slam tournaments |
| Virginia Slims/Colgate Series championships |
| Virginia Slims Circuit |
| Colgate International Series |
| Non-Tour Events |
| Team events |
November (1977)
December (1977)
January
February
March
April
| Week | Tournament | Champions | Runners-up | Semifinalists | Quarterfinalists |
| 3 Apr | Bridgestone Doubles Championships Tokyo, Japan $100,000 - Carpet - 8D Doubles |  Martina Navratilova Billie Jean King 6–4, 6–4 |  Françoise Dürr Virginia Wade |  Stöve /  Goolagong Cawley Reid / Turnbull |  Stevens / Schallau Bostrom / Redondo Casals / Russell Kemmer / Newberry |
| 10 Apr | Family Circle Cup Hilton Head Island, United States Colgate Series $125,000 – Clay – 30S/16D Singles – Doubles | Chris Evert 6–2, 6–0 | Kerry Reid | JoAnne Russell Tracy Austin | Martina Navratilova Jeanne DuVall Rosie Casals Renee Richards |
| 10 Apr | Family Circle Cup Hilton Head Island, United States Colgate Series $125,000 – Clay – 30S/16D Singles – Doubles | Billie Jean King Martina Navratilova 6–3, 7–5 | Mona Guerrant Greer Stevens | JoAnne Russell Tracy Austin | Martina Navratilova Jeanne DuVall Rosie Casals Renee Richards |
May
June
July
''No tournaments this monthAugust
September
October
November
December
Colgate Series
Draw and seeding
Wild cards for the tournament had to be given to either local players or players who had won Wimbledon, the US Open, the Virginia Slims or Colgate Series championships or were previous winners of the tournament. All tournaments used a seeded draw with the number of seeds depending on the draw size.Points system
The tournaments of the Colgate Series were divided into four groups – AAAA, AAA, AA and A – based on prize money. Points were allocated based on these groups and the finishing position of a player in a tournament. The points allocation – with doubles points listed in brackets – was:Points standings and bonus pool
| No. | Player Name | Points Singles | Bonus Singles | Points Doubles | Bonus Doubles | Total Bonus |
| 1 | 740 | $100,000 | – | – | $100,000 | |
| 2 | 635 | $65,000 | 100 | $7,500 | $72,500 | |
| 3 | 560 | $45,000 | 201 | $22,000 | $67,000 | |
| 4 | 540 | $35,000 | 146 | $13,000 | $48,000 | |
| 5 | 470 | $30,000 | 92 | $6,000 | $36,000 | |
| 6 | 450 | $25,000 | 75 | $3,800 | $28,800 | |
| 7 | 445 | $22,500 | 142 | $11,500 | $34,000 | |
| 8 | 430 | $20,000 | 168 | $16,000 | $36,000 | |
| 9 | 370 | $19,000 | 55 | $2,500 | $21,500 | |
| 10 | 310 | $17,000 | – | – | $17,000 |
The total bonus pool for the Colgate Series was $675,000, an increase of $75,000 compared to the previous year, and was divided over singles and doubles participate in a minimum of seven singles or three doubles tournaments and b) accept invitation for the series championships if qualified based on merit. Players who ended on equal points were ranked in order of the number of tournaments played.
Virginia Slims Circuit
Points standings and prize money
| No. | Player name | Points | Point avg. | |
| 1 | 9 | 1,635 | 181.66 | |
| 2 | 6 | 910 | 151.66 | |
| 3 | 7 | 753 | 107.57 | |
| 4 | 9 | 745 | 82.77 | |
| 5 | 9 | 686 | 76.22 | |
| 6 | 9 | 623 | 69.22 | |
| 7 | 10 | 608 | 60.80 | |
| 8 | 7 | 455 | 65.00 | |
| 9 | 2 | 360 | 180.00 | |
| 10 | 4 | 345 | 86.25 |
| No. | Player name | Prize money | |
| 1 | 9 | $214,350 | |
| 2 | 6 | $114,450 | |
| 3 | 9 | $68,025 | |
| 4 | 7 | $67,000 | |
| 5 | 9 | $63,300 | |
| 6 | 9 | $58,900 | |
| 7 | 10 | $52,300 | |
| 8 | 7 | $36,700 | |
| 9 | 2 | $30,500 | |
| 10 | 8 | $22,450 |
Combined prize money for singles and doubles events.
The points, named 'Silver Ginny Points', were allocated as follows:
- Winner: 210
- Runner-up: 150
- Third: 110
- Semifinalist: 100
- Quarterfinalist: 65
- Round of 16: 30
- Round of 32: 8
WTA Tour
Year-end rankings
Below are the 1978 WTA year-end rankings in both singles and doubles competition:Prize money leaders
| No. | Player Name | Prize money |
| 1 | $454,486 | |
| 2 | $450,757 | |
| 3 | $300,027 | |
| 4 | $208,766 | |
| 5 | $189,583 | |
| 6 | $180,844 | |
| 7 | $177,243 | |
| 8 | $151,379 | |
| 9 | $149,492 | |
| 10 | $88,840 |