In the title mononuclear complex, [Cu(C(14)H(10)O(3))(C(12)H(8)N(2))(H(2)O)], the Cu(II) atom is five-coordinated by two N atoms from a 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) ligand, two O atoms from a benzilate ligand and one O atom from a water mol-ecule in a distorted square-pyramidal geometry. The crystal structure is stabilized via inter-molecular O-H⋯O and C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, C-H⋯π inter-actions and π-π stacking inter-actions between the pyridine and benzene rings of neighboring phen ligands [centroid-centroid distances = 3.684 (2), 3.564 (2) and 3.380 (1) Å].