Barbara Schett was the defending champion but lost in the semifinals to Sandrine Testud.
Testud won in the final 7–5, 6–3 against Elena Makarova.
Seeds A champion seed is indicated in bold text while text in italics indicates the round in which that seed was eliminated.
Barbara Paulus (semifinals) Sandrine Testud (champion) Barbara Schett (semifinals) Florencia Labat (second round) Silvia Farina (quarterfinals) Virginia Ruano-Pascual (quarterfinals) Francesca Lubiani (first round) Flora Perfetti (first round)
Draw
References
External links 1997 Internazionali Femminili di Palermo draws