1981 Avon Championships of California – Singles

Martina Navratilova was the defending champion.

Second-seeded Andrea Jaeger won the title, defeating fifth-seeded Virginia Wade in the final 6–3, 6–1.

Seeds
A champion seed is indicated in bold text while text in italics indicates the round in which that seed was eliminated.


 * 1) 🇺🇸 Martina Navratilova (second round)
 * 2) 🇺🇸 Andrea Jaeger (champion)
 * 3) 🇦🇺 Wendy Turnbull (second round)
 * 4) 🇺🇸 Barbara Jordan (quarterfinals)
 * 5) 🇬🇧 Virginia Wade (final)
 * 6)  Mima Jaušovec (quarterfinals)
 * 7) 🇬🇧 Sue Barker (quarterfinals)
 * 8) N.A.