Pironkova started the 2016 season with a loss to Samantha Crawford in Brisbane qualifying. She played the Apia International, where she received a wildcard to the main draw and reached the second round, beating Lesia Tsurenko before losing to No. 8 seed, Belinda Bencic. At the Australian Open, she lost in the first round to Yaroslava Shvedova. Her next tournament was the Dubai Tennis Championships, where she entered the main draw after beating Kristýna Plíšková, Kateryna Bondarenko and Anna-Lena Friedsam in the qualifying. She lost to eventual finalist Barbora Strýcová in the first round.