Seeded third at the Rio Open, Vinci was upset in the second round by qualifier Verónica Cepede Royg, 6–2, 6–3. She then retired in her first-round match against Kiki Bertens at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel with a shoulder injury. Vinci exited the second round at the BNP Paribas Open to 24th seed Sabine Lisicki, 6–1, 5–7, 6–4. The following week at the Miami Open, she dropped her opening match against qualifier Tatjana Maria, 6–7, 3–6. During the week, it was also announced that Vinci and her long-term doubles partner Sara Errani decided to discontinue playing doubles together. They issued a joint statement stating that they had decided to pursue more in their singles career.