Second-seeded Roy Emerson defeated Rod Laver 1–6, 6–3, 7–5, 6–4 in the final to win the men's singles tennis title at the 1961 Australian Championships.

Seeds The seeded players are listed below. Roy Emerson is the champion; others show the round in which they were eliminated.

Rod Laver (finalist) Roy Emerson (champion) Bob Mark (third round) Bob Hewitt (third round) Mike Sangster (quarterfinals) Christian Kuhnke (quarterfinals) Bob Howe (third round) Fred Stolle (semifinals) Wayne Reid (third round) Ken Fletcher (quarterfinals) Sergio Tacchini (second round) Barry Phillips-Moore (semifinals)

Draw

Key Q = Qualifier WC = Wild card LL = Lucky loser r = Retired

Finals

Earlier rounds

Section 1

Section 2

Section 3

Section 4

External links 1961 Australian Championships on ITFtennis.com , the source for this draw