2018 BNP Paribas Open – Women's singles

Naomi Osaka defeated Daria Kasatkina in the final, 6–3, 6–2 to win the women's singles tennis title at the 2018 Indian Wells Masters. It was her first WTA Tour title. This was the first time two players under 21 had contested the final since Kim Clijsters and Serena Williams in 2001. At 20 years old, Osaka was the youngest Indian Wells champion since Ana Ivanovic in 2008, and the youngest at any Premier Mandatory event since Caroline Wozniacki at the 2010 China Open. She was also only the third unseeded player to win the tournament after Serena Williams (1999) and Clijsters (2005), and the first Japanese player to win a Premier Mandatory title.

Elena Vesnina was the defending champion, but lost in the third round to Angelique Kerber.

Simona Halep and Wozniacki were in contention for the WTA No. 1 singles ranking at the beginning of the tournament. Halep retained the top ranking after Wozniacki lost in the fourth round.

Former world No. 1 players Victoria Azarenka, Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams played in the same tournament for the first time since the 2016 Australian Open. This was Azarenka's first tournament since the 2017 Wimbledon Championships and Williams' first since the 2017 Australian Open. It was also Sharapova's first appearance at Indian Wells since 2015.

Seeds
All seeds received a bye into the second round. • 🇷🇴 Simona Halep (semifinals)

• Caroline Wozniacki (fourth round)

• 🇪🇸 Garbiñe Muguruza (second round)

• 🇺🇦 Elina Svitolina (third round)

• 🇨🇿 Karolína Plíšková (quarterfinals)

•  Jeļena Ostapenko (third round)

• 🇫🇷 Caroline Garcia (fourth round)

• 🇺🇸 Venus Williams (semifinals)

• 🇨🇿 Petra Kvitová (third round)

• 🇩🇪 Angelique Kerber (quarterfinals)

• 🇬🇧 Johanna Konta (second round)

• 🇩🇪 Julia Görges (third round)

• 🇺🇸 Sloane Stephens (third round)

• 🇫🇷 Kristina Mladenovic (third round)

• 🇺🇸 Madison Keys (second round)

• 🇦🇺 Ashleigh Barty (second round)

• 🇺🇸 CoCo Vandeweghe (third round)

• 🇸🇰 Magdaléna Rybáriková (second round)

• 🇷🇺 Svetlana Kuznetsova (second round)

• 🇷🇺 Daria Kasatkina (final)

•  Anastasija Sevastova (fourth round)

• 🇧🇪 Elise Mertens (second round)

• 🇷🇺 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (second round)

• 🇷🇺 Elena Vesnina (third round)

• 🇨🇿 Barbora Strýcová (second round)

• 🇦🇺 Daria Gavrilova (third round)

• 🇪🇸 Carla Suárez Navarro (quarterfinals)

• 🇪🇪 Anett Kontaveit (second round)

•  Kiki Bertens (second round)

• 🇸🇰 Dominika Cibulková (second round)

• 🇵🇱 Agnieszka Radwańska (second round)

• 🇨🇳 Zhang Shuai (third round)

Seeds
• # 🇺🇦 Kateryna Kozlova (first round)

• # Hsieh Su-wei (qualified)

• # 🇷🇴 Monica Niculescu (qualified)

• # 🇸🇪 Johanna Larsson (qualifying competition)

• # 🇺🇸 Madison Brengle (qualified)

• # 🇪🇸 Lara Arruabarrena (qualified)

• # 🇺🇦 Kateryna Bondarenko (first round)

• # 🇮🇹 Francesca Schiavone (first round)

• # 🇫🇷 Pauline Parmentier (moved to main draw)

• # 🇨🇳 Duan Yingying (qualified)

• # 🇺🇸 Taylor Townsend (qualified)

• # 🇦🇺 Ajla Tomljanović (qualifying competition)

• # 🇸🇰 Jana Čepelová (qualifying competition)

• # 🇯🇵 Kurumi Nara (qualified)

• # 🇺🇸 Sachia Vickery (qualified)

• # 🇺🇸 Bernarda Pera (qualifying competition)

• # 🇺🇸 Sofia Kenin (qualified)

• # 🇩🇪 Andrea Petkovic (qualifying competition)

• # 🇪🇸 Sara Sorribes Tormo (qualified)

• # Richèl Hogenkamp (qualifying competition)

• # 🇺🇸 Alison Riske (first round)

• # 🇺🇸 Kristie Ahn (qualifying competition)

• # 🇷🇺 Evgeniya Rodina (first round)

• # Viktorija Golubic (first round)

Qualifiers
• # 🇺🇸 Sachia Vickery

• # Hsieh Su-wei

• # 🇷🇴 Monica Niculescu

• # 🇯🇵 Kurumi Nara

• # 🇺🇸 Madison Brengle

• # 🇪🇸 Lara Arruabarrena

• # 🇺🇸 Sofia Kenin

• # 🇧🇪 Yanina Wickmayer

• # 🇷🇺 Vera Zvonareva

• # 🇨🇳 Duan Yingying

• # 🇺🇸 Taylor Townsend

• # 🇪🇸 Sara Sorribes Tormo