Victoria Azarenka defeated Serena Williams in the final, 6–4, 6–4 to win the women's singles tennis title at the 2016 Indian Wells Masters. It was her second Indian Wells title and 19th WTA Tour singles title in total.
Simona Halep was the defending champion, but lost in the quarterfinals to Serena Williams.
This edition of the tournament marked Venus Williams' return to the tournament for the first time since 2001; she had boycotted the event in protest of racist remarks surrounding her withdrawal from the 2001 semifinal against Serena. She lost to Kurumi Nara in the second round.
Seeds All seeds received a bye into the second round.
Draw
Finals
Top half
Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Section 4
Bottom half
Section 5
Section 6
Section 7
Section 8
Qualifying
Seeds
Qualifiers
Lucky losers Anna-Lena Friedsam
Qualifying draw
First qualifier
Second qualifier
Third qualifier
Fourth qualifier
Fifth qualifier
Sixth qualifier
Seventh qualifier
Eighth qualifier
Ninth qualifier
Tenth qualifier
Eleventh qualifier
Twelfth qualifier
References
External links Main draw Qualifying draw