# 1981 Benson and Hedges Open – Singles

First-seeded Bill Scanlon defeated Tim Wilkison 6–7, 6–3, 3–6, 7–6, 6–0 to win the 1981 Benson and Hedges Open singles competition. John Sadri was the champion but did not defend his title.

## Seeds

A champion seed is indicated in bold text while text in italics indicates the round in which that seed was eliminated.
* Bill Scanlon (champion)
* Rod Frawley (first round)
* Russell Simpson (quarterfinals)
* Ferdi Taygan (quarterfinals)
* Tim Wilkison (final)
* Onny Parun (semifinals)
* Billy Martin (semifinals)
* Chris Mayotte (quarterfinals)

## 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
* NB: The Final was the best of 5 sets while all other rounds were the best of 3 sets.

### Final

| Final | Final | Final | Final | Final | Final | Final |
| 1 | Bill Scanlon | 6 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 6 |
| 5 | Tim Wilkison | 7 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 0 |

### Section 1

| First round | First round | First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals |
| 1 | B Scanlon | 5 | 6 | 7 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | S Docherty | 7 | 3 | 5 | 1 | B Scanlon | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | M Estep | 6 | 6 | | | M Estep | 0 | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | G Petrovic | 2 | 3 | | | | | | | 1 | B Scanlon | 7 | 6 | | | | | |
| | D Crealy | 6 | 7 | | | | | | | 8 | C Mayotte | 6 | 1 | | | | | |
| | C Stansbury | 4 | 6 | | | D Crealy | 3 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | L Bourne | 5 | 1 | | 8 | C Mayotte | 6 | 7 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | C Mayotte | 7 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | 1 | B Scanlon | 6 | 7 |
| 3 | R Simpson | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | 6 | O Parun | 4 | 6 |
| | D Siegler | 4 | 3 | | 3 | R Simpson | 5 | 7 | 6 | | | | | | | | | |
| Q | J Lapidus | 4 | 6 | 6 | Q | J Lapidus | 7 | 6 | 4 | | | | | | | | | |
| | D Carter | 6 | 2 | 4 | | | | | | 3 | R Simpson | 4 | 7 | 8 | | | | |
| | T Graham | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | 6 | O Parun | 6 | 6 | 10 | | | | |
| | B Derlin | 1 | 4 | | | T Graham | 4 | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | G Whitecross | 2 | 6 | 2 | 6 | O Parun | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 6 | O Parun | 6 | 3 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

### 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 | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals |
| 5 | T Wilkison | 2 | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | S McCain | 6 | 1 | 2 | 5 | T Wilkison | 7 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | L Stefanki | 6 | 4 | | | L Stefanki | 5 | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | T Cain | 2 | 0 | R | | | | | | 5 | T Wilkison | 3 | 6 | 6 | | | | |
| | M Lewis | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | 4 | F Taygan | 6 | 4 | 3 | | | | |
| | E Ewert | 2 | 4 | | | M Lewis | 0 | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | P Campbell | 2 | 2 | | 4 | F Taygan | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | F Taygan | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | 5 | T Wilkison | 6 | 7 |
| 7 | B Martin | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | 7 | B Martin | 1 | 5 |
| | A Gardiner | 4 | 4 | | 7 | B Martin | 7 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | B Maze | 6 | 6 | | | B Maze | 5 | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | B Gilmour | 4 | 4 | | | | | | | 7 | B Martin | 3 | 7 | 7 | | | | |
| Q | R Hightower | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | Q | R Hightower | 6 | 6 | 5 | | | | |
| Q | D Mustard | 3 | 1 | | Q | R Hightower | 6 | 2 | 9 | | | | | | | | | |
| Q | J Simpson | 6 | 6 | | Q | J Simpson | 4 | 6 | 7 | | | | | | | | | |
| 2 | R Frawley | 3 | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |