1981 U.S. Clay Court Championships – Men's singles

Second-seed José Luis Clerc retained the title by defeating Ivan Lendl in the final and claimed first prize money of $32,000.

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


 * 1)  Ivan Lendl (final)
 * 2) 🇦🇷 José Luis Clerc (champion)
 * 3) 🇦🇷 Guillermo Vilas (semifinals)
 * 4) 🇺🇸 Harold Solomon (second round)
 * 5) 🇺🇸 Mel Purcell (quarterfinals)
 * 6) 🇪🇸 José Higueras (third round)
 * 7)  Tomáš Šmíd (second round)
 * 8) 🇺🇸 Eddie Dibbs (first round)
 * 9)  Hans Gildemeister (third round)
 * 10)  José Luis Damiani (quarterfinals)
 * 11) 🇺🇸 Terry Moor (first round)
 * 12) 🇧🇴 Mario Martinez (first round)
 * 13)  Heinz Günthardt (second round)
 * 14) 🇮🇱 Shlomo Glickstein (third round)
 * 15) 🇦🇺 Mark Edmondson (third round)
 * 16) 🇪🇨 Ricardo Ycaza (withdrew — expecting child)