1981 Australian Open – Men's singles

Johan Kriek defeated Steve Denton in the final, 6–2, 7–6(7–1), 6–7(1–7), 6–4 to win the men's singles tennis title at the 1981 Australian Open. It was his first major title.

Brian Teacher was the reigning champion, but did not compete this year.

Seeds
The seeded players are listed below. Johan Kriek is the champion; others show the round in which they were eliminated.


 * 1) 🇦🇷 Guillermo Vilas (third round)
 * 2) 🇦🇺 Peter McNamara (quarterfinals)
 * 3) 🇺🇸 Roscoe Tanner (second round)
 * 4) 🇿🇦 Johan Kriek (champion)
 * 5) 🇦🇺 Kim Warwick (quarterfinals)
 * 6) 🇦🇺 Mark Edmondson (semifinals)
 * 7) 🇺🇸 Fritz Buehning (first round)
 * 8) 🇺🇸 Tim Mayotte (quarterfinals)
 * 9) 🇮🇱 Shlomo Glickstein (quarterfinals)
 * 10) 🇺🇸 John Sadri (first round)
 * 11) 🇳🇿 Chris Lewis (third round)
 * 12) 🇺🇸 Hank Pfister (semifinals)
 * 13) 🇺🇸 Pat DuPré (third round)
 * 14) 🇿🇦 Kevin Curren (second round)
 * 15) 🇺🇸 Peter Rennert (second round)
 * 16) 🇦🇺 John Fitzgerald (first round)

Key

 * Q = Qualifier
 * WC = Wild card
 * LL = Lucky loser
 * r = Retired