Martina Hingis defeated Monica Seles in the final, 6–2, 6–1 to win the women's singles tennis title at the 1997 Miami Open. At 16 years and 6 months, Hingis became the youngest-ever world No. 1 player in women's singles. This marked the first time that neither Steffi Graf, Seles nor Arantxa Sánchez Vicario were ranked No. 1 since August 17, 1987.
Steffi Graf was the three-time reigning champion, but did not compete that year.
A champion seed is indicated in bold text while text in italics indicates the round in which that seed was eliminated. All thirty-two seeds received a bye to the second round.
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (fourth round)
Jana Novotná (semifinals)
Monica Seles (final) Lindsay Davenport (fourth round)
Karina Habšudová (second round) Mary Joe Fernández (quarterfinals)
Barbara Paulus (semifinals) Judith Wiesner (third round) Kimberly Po (third round)
Elena Likhovtseva (fourth round)
Nathalie Tauziat (third round)
Sabine Appelmans (third round) Chanda Rubin (fourth round) Lisa Raymond (third round) Jennifer Capriati (second round) Sandrine Testud (quarterfinals)
Ai Sugiyama (third round) Dominique Van Roost (second round) Amy Frazier (third round) Linda Wild (second round) Katarína Studeníková (third round)
Åsa Carlsson (fourth round) Henrieta Nagyová (third round) Barbara Schett (fourth round)