Martina Hingis defeated Monica Seles in the final, 3–6, 6–3, 7–6 to win the singles tennis title at the 1997 Family Circle Cup.
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario was the defending champion, but lost in the third round to Amanda Coetzer.
A champion seed is indicated in bold text while text in italics indicates the round in which that seed was eliminated. The top nine seeds received a bye to the second round.