Daniela Hantuchová defeated Martina Hingis in the final, 6–3, 6–4 to win the women's singles tennis title at the 2002 Indian Wells Masters. It was her first WTA Tour singles title. Serena Williams was the reigning champion, but she boycotted the tournament in protest of racist remarks by members of the crowd the previous year. She did not return to Indian Wells until 2015. This was the first WTA Tour tournament in which future world No. 1 and five-time major champion Maria Sharapova competed; she was defeated in the second round by Monica Seles.

Seeds

All seeds received a bye into the second round. • #🇧🇪 Kim Clijsters (second round) • # Martina Hingis (final) • #🇧🇪 Justine Henin (fourth round) • #🇺🇸 Monica Seles (semifinals) • # Jelena Dokić (third round) • #🇺🇸 Meghann Shaughnessy (fourth round) • #🇮🇹 Silvia Farina Elia (fourth round) • #🇷🇺 Elena Dementieva (third round) • #🇪🇸 Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (quarterfinals) • # Amanda Coetzer (quarterfinals) • #🇧🇬 Magdalena Maleeva (second round) • #🇺🇸 Lisa Raymond (quarterfinals) • #🇺🇿 Iroda Tulyaganova (third round) • #🇹🇭 Tamarine Tanasugarn (third round) • #🇪🇸 Ángeles Montolio (second round) • #🇦🇹 Barbara Schett (third round) • # 🇮🇹 Francesca Schiavone (second round) • # 🇸🇰 Daniela Hantuchová (champion) • # 🇨🇿 Dája Bedáňová (third round) • # 🇮🇹 Rita Grande (second round) • # 🇪🇸 Magüi Serna (second round) • # 🇯🇵 Ai Sugiyama (fourth round) • # 🇪🇸 Cristina Torrens Valero (second round) • # 🇷🇺 Tatiana Panova (third round) • # 🇺🇸 Alexandra Stevenson (fourth round) • # 🇱🇺 Anne Kremer (fourth round) • # 🇷🇺 Elena Likhovtseva (third round) • # 🇷🇺 Anastasia Myskina (fourth round) • # 🇪🇸 Conchita Martínez (second round) • # 🇮🇹 Adriana Serra Zanetti (third round) • # 🇸🇰 Martina Suchá (third round) • # 🇦🇺 Nicole Pratt (third round)

Draw

Finals

Top half

Section 1

Section 2

Section 3

Section 4

Bottom half

Section 5

Section 6

Section 7

Section 8

Qualifying

Qualifying seeds

• # 🇷🇺 Alina Jidkova (first round) • # 🇭🇺 Zsófia Gubacsi (qualified) • # Jelena Kostanić (qualified) • # 🇸🇰 Ľudmila Cervanová (qualified) • # 🇪🇸 Eva Bes (first round) • # 🇺🇸 Samantha Reeves (qualifying competition, Lucky loser) • # Silvija Talaja (qualified) • # 🇦🇷 María Emilia Salerni (qualifying competition) • # 🇩🇪 Anca Barna (first round) • # 🇩🇪 Gréta Arn (qualified) • # 🇫🇷 Virginie Razzano (qualified) • # 🇺🇸 Jill Craybas (first round) • # Eva Dyrberg (qualified) • # 🇫🇷 Émilie Loit (qualifying competition) • # 🇧🇬 Lubomira Bacheva (qualifying competition) • # 🇪🇸 Nuria Llagostera Vives (qualified) • # 🇪🇸 María José Martínez Sánchez (qualifying competition) • # 🇺🇸 Sarah Taylor (first round) • # 🇭🇺 Anikó Kapros (qualifying competition) • # 🇺🇸 Mashona Washington (qualified) • # 🇺🇦 Tatiana Perebiynis (first round) • # 🇨🇿 Klára Koukalová (first round) • # 🇫🇷 Stéphanie Foretz (qualified) • # Maja Palaveršić (first round)

Qualifiers

• # 🇺🇸 Mashona Washington • # 🇭🇺 Zsófia Gubacsi • # Jelena Kostanić • # 🇸🇰 Ľudmila Cervanová • # 🇩🇪 Angelika Rösch • # Eva Dyrberg • # Silvija Talaja • # 🇫🇷 Stéphanie Foretz • # 🇨🇿 Sandra Kleinová • # 🇩🇪 Gréta Arn • # 🇫🇷 Virginie Razzano • # 🇪🇸 Nuria Llagostera Vives

Lucky loser

Qualifying draw

First qualifier

Second qualifier

Third qualifier

Fourth qualifier

Fifth qualifier

Sixth qualifier

Seventh qualifier

Eighth qualifier

Ninth qualifier

Tenth qualifier

Eleventh qualifier

Twelfth qualifier