# 1997 Sydney International – Women's singles

Monica Seles was the defending champion but did not compete that year.
Martina Hingis won in the final 6–1, 5–7, 6–1 against Jennifer Capriati.

## Seeds

A champion seed is indicated in bold text while text in italics indicates the round in which that seed was eliminated. The top four seeds received a bye to the second round.
* Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (second round)
* Martina Hingis (champion)
* Iva Majoli (quarterfinals)
* Lindsay Davenport (semifinals)
* Irina Spîrlea (first round)
* Karina Habšudová (first round)
* Brenda Schultz-McCarthy (first round)
* n/a
* Amanda Coetzer (first round)

## Draw
### Key

* 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

### Final

| Final | Final | Final | Final | Final |
| | Jennifer Capriati | 1 | 7 | 1 |
| 2 | Martina Hingis | 6 | 5 | 6 |

### Section 1

| First round | First round | First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals |
| | | | | | 1 | A Sánchez Vicario | 3 | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |
| LL | S Dopfer | 2 | 3 | | | A Frazier | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | A Frazier | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | A Frazier | 4 | 1 | | | | | | |
| | C Rubin | 3 | 6 | 3 | | | | | | J Capriati | 6 | 6 | | | | | | |
| | J Capriati | 6 | 4 | 6 | | J Capriati | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Q | R Simpson | 6 | 7 | | Q | R Simpson | 3 | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 6 | K Habšudová | 4 | 5 | | | | | | | | | | | | J Capriati | 2 | 6 | 6 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 4 | L Davenport | 6 | 4 | 2 |
| | | | | | 4 | L Davenport | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | A Sugiyama | 1 | 0 | | | L Raymond | 3 | 4 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | L Raymond | 6 | 6 | | | | | | 4 | L Davenport | 6 | 6$^4$ | 6 | | | | | |
| | N Sawamatsu | 7 | 6 | | | | | | | N Sawamatsu | 3 | 7$^7$ | 1 | | | | | |
| Q | M Tu | 5 | 3 | | | N Sawamatsu | 7 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | |
| WC | R McQuillan | 6 | 6$^0$ | 6 | WC | R McQuillan | 5 | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 7 | B Schultz-McCarthy | 4 | 7$^7$ | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

### Section 2

| First round | First round | First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals |
| 9 | A Coetzer | 1 | 6 | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | M J Fernández | 6 | 3 | 6 | | M J Fernández | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | |
| | K Po | 6 | 3 | 6 | | K Po | 2 | 4 | | | | | | | | | |
| | J Wiesner | 2 | 6 | 4 | | | | | | | M J Fernández | 7 | 6 | | | | |
| Q | S Pitkowski | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | 3 | I Majoli | 5 | 4 | | | | |
| | N Zvereva | 0 | 0 | | Q | S Pitkowski | 2 | 1 | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | 3 | I Majoli | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | M J Fernández | 3 | 2 |
| 5 | I Spîrlea | 3 | 6 | 4 | | | | | | | | | | 2 | M Hingis | 6 | 6 |
| | M Pierce | 6 | 4 | 6 | | M Pierce | 4 | 4 | | | | | | | | | |
| WC | N Bradtke | 3 | 6 | 0 | | Y Basuki | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | |
| | Y Basuki | 6 | 3 | 6 | | | | | | | Y Basuki | 6$^6$ | 1 | | | | |
| | S Appelmans | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | 2 | M Hingis | 7$^8$ | 6 | | | | |
| Q | J Kandarr | 0 | 1 | | | S Appelmans | 3 | 6 | 1 | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | 2 | M Hingis | 6 | 3 | 6 | | | | | | | | |