See main article: 2016 Australian Open.
| Champ: | Angelique Kerber |
| Runner: |  Serena Williams |
| Score: | 6–4, 3–6, 6–4 |
| Draw: | 128 (12 / 8) |
| Seeds: | 32 |
Angelique Kerber defeated defending champion Serena Williams in the final, 6–4, 3–6, 6–4 to win the women's singles tennis title at the 2016 Australian Open. It was her first major title. Kerber saved a match point en route to the title, in the first round against Misaki Doi; she became the first woman to win a singles major after saving a match point in the first round.[1] She also became the first German to win a major since Steffi Graf at the 1999 French Open.[2] [3] Williams was attempting to equal Graf's Open Era record of 22 major singles titles. Williams' loss also ended her eight-match winning streak in major finals.
The top three seeds (Williams, Simona Halep and Garbiñe Muguruza) were in contention for the world No. 1 ranking. However, Halep and Muguruza were eliminated in the first and third rounds, respectively, with Williams retaining the top spot at the end of the tournament.
The twelve seeds that lost in the opening round were the most to do so at any major since the 32-seed draw was adopted at the 2001 Wimbledon Championships.[4]
Zhang Shuai became the first qualifier to reach the quarterfinals since Angélica Gavaldón in 1990.[5] Zhang also won her first main draw major match in her 15th main draw appearance.
This was the first major appearance for future two-time champion and world No. 1 Naomi Osaka, who lost to Victoria Azarenka in the third round. It was also the last professional event for former world No. 1 Maria Sharapova until the 2017 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. Sharapova failed a drug test at this tournament, testing positive for the banned substance meldonium, and was suspended from professional tennis for 15 months as a result. She lost here in the quarterfinals to Williams, in a rematch of the previous year's final.
See also: 1 and 1. Serena Williams (final)
See also: 2 and 8. 
Simona Halep (first round)
See also: 3 and 6. 
Garbiñe Muguruza (third round)
See also: 4 and 3. 
Agnieszka Radwańska (semifinals)
See also: 5 and 2. 
Maria Sharapova (quarterfinals)
See also: 6 and 4. 
Petra Kvitová (second round)
See also: 7 and 5. Angelique Kerber (champion)
See also: 8 and 7. Venus Williams (first round)
See also: 9 and 7. Karolína Plíšková (third round)
See also: 10 and 4. Carla Suárez Navarro (quarterfinals)
See also: 11 and 5. Timea Bacsinszky (second round)
See also: 12 and 2. Belinda Bencic (fourth round)
See also: 13 and 3. 
Roberta Vinci (third round)
See also: 14 and 6. 
Victoria Azarenka (quarterfinals)
See also: 15 and 8. Madison Keys (fourth round)
See also: 16 and 1. Caroline Wozniacki (first round)
See also: 17 and 1. Sara Errani (first round)
See also: 18 and 6. 
Elina Svitolina (second round)
See also: 19 and 5. 
Jelena Janković (second round)
See also: 20 and 8. Ana Ivanovic (third round)
See also: 21 and 7. Ekaterina Makarova (fourth round)
See also: 22 and 4. Andrea Petkovic (first round)
See also: 23 and 2. Svetlana Kuznetsova (second round)
See also: 24 and 3. Sloane Stephens (first round)
See also: 25 and 3. 
Samantha Stosur (first round)
See also: 26 and 2. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (first round)
See also: 27 and 1. 
Anna Karolína Schmiedlová (first round)
See also: 28 and 4. 
Kristina Mladenovic (third round)
See also: 29 and 5. Irina-Camelia Begu (first round)
See also: 30 and 7. Sabine Lisicki (second round)
See also: 31 and 8. Lesia Tsurenko (first round)
See also: 32 and 6. Caroline Garcia (first round)
See main article: 2016 Australian Open – Women's singles qualifying.
See main article: 2016 Australian Open – Main draw wildcard entries.
| Category | Kerber | S. Williams | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st serve % | 44/80 (55%) | 51/96 (53%) | ||
| 1st serve points won | bgcolor=98FB98 | 32 of 44 = 73% | 35 of 51 = 69% | |
| 2nd serve points won | bgcolor=98FB98 | 17 of 36 = 47% | 19 of 45 = 42% | |
| Total service points won | 49 of 80 = 61.25% | 54 of 96 = 56.25% | ||
| Aces | 5 | 7 | ||
| Double faults | 3 | 6 | ||
| Winners | 16 | 36 | ||
| Unforced errors | 13 | 40 | ||
| Net points won | 4 of 5 = 80% | 22 of 39 = 56% | ||
| Break points converted | 5 of 9 = 56% | 4 of 8 = 50% | ||
| Return points won | 42 of 96 = 44% | 31 of 80 = 39% | ||
| Total points won | bgcolor=98FB989 | 91 | 85 | |
| Source | ||||