Defending champion Elina Svitolina defeated Daria Kasatkina in the final, 6–4, 6–0 to win the women's singles tennis title at the 2018 Dubai Tennis Championships.

En route to the final, Kasatkina saved match points in two different matches: against Johanna Konta and Garbiñe Muguruza in her second-round and semifinal matches, respectively.

Since Caroline Wozniacki was defending finalist points from 2017 and chose not to participate this year, Simona Halep regained the WTA no. 1 singles ranking at the conclusion of the tournament.^{[citation needed]}

The top four seeds received a bye into the second round.

	Semifinals							Final
	1	Elina Svitolina	6	6
	6	Angelique Kerber	3	3
								1	Elina Svitolina	6	6
									Daria Kasatkina	4	0
		Daria Kasatkina	3	713	6
	2	Garbiñe Muguruza	6	611	1

	First round							Second round							Quarterfinals							Semifinals
								1	E Svitolina	6	5	6
	LL	Q Wang	6	6				LL	Q Wang	1	7	2
		K Bertens	3	0											1	E Svitolina	6	6
		A Kontaveit	1	6	6										WC	N Osaka	2	4
	Q	S Stosur	6	2	4				A Kontaveit	2	65
	WC	N Osaka	6	6				WC	N Osaka	6	77
	8	K Mladenovic	2	2																		1	E Svitolina	6	6
																						6	A Kerber	3	3
								3	Ka Plíšková	5	6	6
	Q	S Zhuk	2	2					C Suárez Navarro	7	2	4
		C Suárez Navarro	6	6											3	Ka Plíšková	4	3
	Q	S Errani	6	6											6	A Kerber	6	6
	Q	L Tsurenko	4	3				Q	S Errani	4	2
		B Strýcová	2	1				6	A Kerber	6	6
	6	A Kerber	6	6

	First round							Second round							Quarterfinals							Semifinals
	7/WC	J Konta	77	6
		A Pavlyuchenkova	62	2				7/WC	J Konta	6	66	2
		D Kasatkina	7	6					D Kasatkina	4	78	6
		A Radwańska	5	4												D Kasatkina	77	6
		E Vesnina	6	7												E Vesnina	65	1
		S Peng	4	5					E Vesnina	6	78
								4/WC	J Ostapenko	1	66
																							D Kasatkina	3	713	6
	5	C Garcia	6	7																		2	G Muguruza	6	611	1
		L Šafářová	3	5				5	C Garcia	6	6
		E Makarova	3	711	6				E Makarova	4	2
		A Sevastova	6	69	3										5	C Garcia	5	2
	WC	C Bellis	6	6											2	G Muguruza	7	6
		E Mertens	3	3				WC	C Bellis	3	5
								2	G Muguruza	6	7

	First round							Second round							Qualifying competition
	10	Aryna Sabalenka	6	6
		Zhu Lin	1	3
								10	Aryna Sabalenka	6	6
									Miyu Kato	3	4
		Chantal Škamlová	2	0
		Miyu Kato	6	6
															10	Aryna Sabalenka	2	6	64
																Sara Errani	6	1	77
		Sara Errani	6	6
	Alt	Shuko Aoyama	1	0
									Sara Errani	6	6
									Bernarda Pera	4	4
		Bernarda Pera	0	6	6
	7	Markéta Vondroušová	6	3	0

	First round							Second round							Qualifying competition
	2	Lesia Tsurenko	5	7	6
		Duan Yingying	7	5	4
								2	Lesia Tsurenko	6	6
								WC	Ons Jabeur	3	3
	WC	Ons Jabeur	65	6	6
	WC	Fatma Al-Nabhani	77	0	2
															2	Lesia Tsurenko	6	6
															6	Zarina Diyas	1	2
	Alt	Veronika Kudermetova	6	6
	Alt	Katarina Zavatska	3	0
								Alt	Veronika Kudermetova	0	5
								6	Zarina Diyas	6	7
	WC	Eden Silva	1	3
	6	Zarina Diyas	6	6

	First round							Second round							Qualifying competition
	3/WC	Samantha Stosur	6	6
	Alt	Ankita Raina	4	4
								3/WC	Samantha Stosur	6	6
									Christina McHale	4	2
		Christina McHale	7	6
		Amandine Hesse	5	3
															3/WC	Samantha Stosur	6	6
															8	Maria Sakkari	1	4
	PR	Kristína Kučová	3	6	0
		Hsieh Su-wei	6	4	6
									Hsieh Su-wei	5	5
								8	Maria Sakkari	7	7
		Wang Yafan	6	3	4
	8	Maria Sakkari	4	6	6

	First round							Second round							Qualifying competition
	4	Wang Qiang	6	6
		Valentyna Ivakhnenko	1	0
								4	Wang Qiang	6	5	6
									Danka Kovinić	2	7	3
		Junri Namigata	6	65	3
		Danka Kovinić	4	77	6
															4	Wang Qiang	1	2
																Sofya Zhuk	6	6
		Alexandra Dulgheru	62	67
		Sofya Zhuk	77	79
									Sofya Zhuk	4	4
								9	Camila Giorgi	6	3r
		Nao Hibino	2	3
	9	Camila Giorgi	6	6

• Main draw
• Qualifying draw