Stan Wawrinka defeated Marcos Baghdatis in the final, 6–4, 7–6(15–13) to win the men's singles tennis title at the 2016 Dubai Tennis Championships.
Roger Federer was the two-time reigning champion, but withdrew due to a knee injury.
This marked the first tournament Novak Djokovic participated in where he failed to reach the final since the 2015 Qatar Open, snapping a streak of 17 finals, when he was forced to retire from his quarterfinal match against Feliciano López due to an eye injury.