Jana Novotná defeated Martina Hingis in the final, 6–2, 6–2 to win the singles tennis title at the 1996 European Indoor Championships.
Iva Majoli was the defending champion, but lost in the semifinals to Novotná.
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.