| Date: | July 16–22 |
| Edition: | 32nd |
| Category: | WTA Premier |
| Draw: | 28S / 16D |
| Surface: | Hard / outdoor |
| Location: | Carlsbad, California, United States |
| Champs: |  Dominika Cibulková |
| Champd: |  Raquel Kops-Jones / Abigail Spears |
| After Name: | Southern California Open |
| Main Name: | Southern California Open |
The 2012 Mercury Insurance Open was a women's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 3rd edition of the Southern California Open since the tournament left the tour in 2007. It was classified as one of the WTA Premier tournaments of the 2012 WTA Tour. It took place in Carlsbad, California, United States from July 16 through July 22, 2012. Second-seeded Dominika Cibulková won the singles title.[1]
See main article: 2012 Mercury Insurance Open – Singles.
Dominika Cibulková defeated 
Marion Bartoli, 6–1, 7–5See main article: 2012 Mercury Insurance Open – Doubles.
Raquel Kops-Jones / Abigail Spears defeated Vania King / 
Nadia Petrova, 6–2, 6–4| Country | Player | Rank1 | Seed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| France | Marion Bartoli | 10 | 1 | |
| Slovakia | 15 | 2 | ||
 Serbia | Jelena Janković | 20 | 3 | |
| Russian Federation | Nadia Petrova | 21 | 4 | |
| Christina McHale | 28 | 5 | ||
| Slovakia | 33 | 6 | ||
 Belgium | Yanina Wickmayer | 37 | 7 | |
| 42 | 8 |
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:
The following players received entry from the qualifying draw:
The following players received entry as lucky loser:
Sorana Cîrstea (right adductor strain) Svetlana Kuznetsova (right knee injury) Monica Niculescu (left hand injury)
Tamira Paszek (left thigh injury) Yanina Wickmayer (low-back injury)| Country | Player | Country | Player | Rank1 | Seed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liezel Huber | Lisa Raymond | 2 | 1 | |||
| Vania King | Nadia Petrova | 19 | 2 | |||
| Raquel Kops-Jones | Abigail Spears | 39 | 3 | |||
| Natalie Grandin | Vladimíra Uhlířová | 47 | 4 |
The following pair received wildcard into the doubles main draw:
