Defending champion Steffi Graf defeated Monica Seles in a rematch of the previous year's final, 7–5, 6–4 to win the women's singles tennis title at the 1996 US Open.

This was the final major appearance of 1990 champion Gabriela Sabatini.

Steffi Graf is the champion; others show the round in which they were eliminated.

Click on the seed number of a player to go to their draw section.

Chanda Rubin pulled out before the tournament began and her position in the draw was taken over by seventeenth-seeded Karina Habšudová, Rubin was replaced by lucky loser Annabel Ellwood; Mary Joe Fernández, who withdrew on the first day of the tournament, was replaced by lucky loser Tina Križan.