Tennis at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's singles

The men's singles tennis competition at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing was held from August 10 to August 17 at the Olympic Green Tennis Centre. The DecoTurf surface rendered the event a hardcourt competition. There were 64 players from 33 nations.[1]

Men's singles
Tennis at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Champion Rafael Nadal (ESP)
Runner-up Fernando González (CHI)
Final score6–3, 7–6(7–2), 6–3
Men's singles tennis
at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad
Rafael Nadal (2011)
VenueOlympic Green Tennis Centre, Beijing
Dates10–17 August
Medalists
Rafael Nadal  Spain
Fernando González  Chile
Novak Djokovic  Serbia

Nicolás Massú was the reigning gold medalist, having won at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, however he lost to David Nalbandian in the second round. Rafael Nadal of Spain defeated Fernando González of Chile 6–3, 7–6(7–2), 6–3 in the final. As a result, González became the first male tennis player to win a medal in the event in consecutive Olympiads since the reintroduction of the sport in 1988. The last Olympian to accomplish the feat was Charles Winslow, although his medals were eight years apart, due to the cancellation of the 1916 Summer Olympics. Following the event, Nadal became the world No. 1 in the ATP Rankings for the first time, ending Roger Federer's record streak of 237 consecutive weeks.[2]

Nadal's victory gave him the third component of the career Golden Slam, with multiple French Open wins already and his recent 2008 Wimbledon championship. He would go on to complete the career Golden Slam, only the second person to do so in men's singles after Andre Agassi, with an Australian Open win in 2009 and a U.S. Open title in 2010.

Background

This was the 13th (medal) appearance of the men's singles tennis event. The event has been held at every Summer Olympics where tennis has been on the program: from 1896 to 1924 and then from 1988 to the current program. Demonstration events were held in 1968 and 1984.

The number one seed was Roger Federer of Switzerland, making his third Olympic appearance. But number-two seed Rafael Nadal of Spain was favored, with recent wins at the French Open and Wimbledon and closing in on taking the #1 ranking from Federer.[1] Nadal was making his Olympic debut along with Serbian player Novak Djokovic, who joined the rest of the Big Three in the top three seeds. Andy Murray of Great Britain also competed at the Olympics for the first time. Four of the eight quarterfinalists from 2004 returned: gold medalist Nicolás Massú and bronze medalist Fernando González of Chile and quarterfinalists Tomáš Berdych of the Czech Republic and Mikhail Youzhny of Russia.

The People's Republic of China, El Salvador, Latvia, Serbia, and Togo each made their debut in the event. France made its 12th appearance, most among all nations, having missed only the 1904 event.

Qualification
Main article: Tennis at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Qualification

Qualification for the men's singles was primarily through the ATP ranking list of 9 June 2008. Nations had been limited to four players in the event since the 2000 Games. There were 64 quota places available for men's singles. The first 56 were assigned through the world ranking. There were two Tripartite Commission invitation places and 6 final qualification places allocated by the ITF based on continental and national representation along with world rankings.

Competition format

The competition was a single-elimination tournament with a bronze medal match. Matches were in best-of-3 sets, except for the final which was in best-of-5 sets. No tiebreak was played in the final set.

Schedule
August 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Morning 10.30 10.30 10.30
Afternoon 17.00 17.00 17.00 16.00 16.00 16.00 16.00 16.00
Round of 64 Round of 64 Round of 32 Round of 16 Quarterfinals Semifinals Bronze Final

Seeds
01.    Roger Federer (SUI) (Quarterfinals)
02.    Rafael Nadal (ESP) (Champion, gold medalist)
03.    Novak Djokovic (SRB) (Semifinals, bronze medalist)
04.    Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) (Second round)
05.    David Ferrer (ESP) (First round)
06.    Andy Murray (GBR) (First round)
07.    David Nalbandian (ARG) (Third round)
08.    James Blake (USA) (Semifinals, fourth place)
09.    Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) (Second round)
10.    Gilles Simon (FRA) (Third round)
11.    Nicolás Almagro (ESP) (First round)
12.    Fernando González (CHI) (Final, silver medalist)
13.    Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) (Third round)
14.    Ivo Karlović (CRO) (Withdrew because of a stomach illness)
15.    Nicolas Kiefer (GER) (Third round)
16.    Radek Štěpánek (CZE) (First round)
17.    Tomáš Berdych (CZE) (Third round)

Click on the seed number of a player to go to their draw section.

Draw

Key

Finals
Quarterfinals Semifinals Final (Gold Medal Match)
                 
1  Roger Federer (SUI) 4 62  
8  James Blake (USA) 6 77  
8  James Blake (USA) 6 5 9
12  Fernando González (CHI) 4 7 11
   Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA) 4 4  
12  Fernando González (CHI) 6 6  
12  Fernando González (CHI) 3 62 3    
2  Rafael Nadal (ESP) 6 77 6    
   Gaël Monfils (FRA) 6 1 4
3  Novak Djokovic (SRB) 4 6 6
3  Novak Djokovic (SRB) 4 6 4 Bronze Medal Match
2  Rafael Nadal (ESP) 6 1 6
   Jürgen Melzer (AUT) 0 4   8  James Blake (USA) 3 64  
2  Rafael Nadal (ESP) 6 6   3  Novak Djokovic (SRB) 6 77  

Section 1
First Round Second Round Third Round Quarterfinals
1  R Federer (SUI) 6 6  
   D Tursunov (RUS) 4 2   1  R Federer (SUI) 6 6  
   H-t Lee (KOR) 6 3 4 INV  R Arevalo (ESA) 2 4  
INV  R Arevalo (ESA) 4 6 6 1  R Federer (SUI) 6 77  
   T Robredo (ESP) 4 6 6 17  T Berdych (CZE) 3 64  
   A Seppi (ITA) 6 4 8    A Seppi (ITA) 3 64  
Alt  X Yu (CHN) 1 2   17  T Berdych (CZE) 6 77  
17  T Berdych (CZE) 6 6   1  R Federer (SUI) 4 62  
10  G Simon (FRA) 6 6   8  J Blake (USA) 6 77  
   R Söderling (SWE) 4 4   10  G Simon (FRA) 7 6  
Alt  F Niemeyer (CAN) 6 2r    G Cañas (ARG) 5 1  
   G Cañas (ARG) 3 4   10  G Simon (FRA) 4 2  
   T Bellucci (BRA) 6 4 2 8  J Blake (USA) 6 6  
PR  D Hrbatý (SVK) 2 6 6 PR  D Hrbatý (SVK) 63 6 3
   C Guccione (AUS) 3 63   8  J Blake (USA) 77 4 6
8  J Blake (USA) 6 77  

Section 2
First Round Second Round Third Round Quarterfinals
4  N Davydenko (RUS) 6 6  
   E Gulbis (LAT) 4 2   4  N Davydenko (RUS) 5 3  
   P-H Mathieu (FRA) 77 6      P-H Mathieu (FRA) 7 6  
   N Lapentti (ECU) 64 2      P-H Mathieu (FRA) 6 7  
INV  K Loglo (TOG) 3 2   15  N Kiefer (GER) 3 5  
IP  K Anderson (RSA) 6 6    IP  K Anderson (RSA) 4 77 4
IP  M Mirnyi (BLR) 3 1   15  N Kiefer (GER) 6 64 6
15  N Kiefer (GER) 6 6      P-H Mathieu (FRA) 4 4  
12  F González (CHI) 6 6   12  F González (CHI) 6 6  
IP  P Sun (CHN) 4 4   12  F González (CHI) 6 6  
   M Čilić (CRO) 6 65 6    M Čilić (CRO) 4 2  
   J Mónaco (ARG) 4 77 3 12  F González (CHI) 6 6  
   O Rochus (BEL) 6 3 6    O Rochus (BEL) 0 3  
   I Minář (CZE) 3 6 3    O Rochus (BEL) 77 2  
   J Tipsarević (SRB) 710 6      J Tipsarević (SRB) 65 3 r
5  D Ferrer (ESP) 68 2  

Section 3
First Round Second Round Third Round Quarterfinals
7  D Nalbandian (ARG) 6 6  
Alt  S Zeng (CHN) 2 1   7  D Nalbandian (ARG) 77 6  
IP  N Massú (CHI) 6 7   IP  N Massú (CHI) 60 1  
   S Darcis (BEL) 4 5   7  D Nalbandian (ARG) 4 4  
   S Bolelli (ITA) 5 6 4    G Monfils (FRA) 6 6  
   V Hănescu (ROU) 7 3 6    V Hănescu (ROU) 4 65  
   G Monfils (FRA) 6 3 6    G Monfils (FRA) 6 77  
11  N Almagro (ESP) 4 6 3    G Monfils (FRA) 6 1 4
13  M Youzhny (RUS) 6 6   3  N Djokovic (SRB) 4 6 6
   J Vaněk (CZE) 4 1   13  M Youzhny (RUS) 7 6  
   J Nieminen (FIN) 6 4 4    T Johansson (SWE) 5 2  
   T Johansson (SWE) 4 6 6 13  M Youzhny (RUS) 63 3  
   R Schüttler (GER) 6 65 6 3  N Djokovic (SRB) 77 6  
IP  K Nishikori (JPN) 4 77 3    R Schüttler (GER) 4 2  
   R Ginepri (USA) 4 4   3  N Djokovic (SRB) 6 6  
3  N Djokovic (SRB) 6 6  

Section 4
First Round Second Round Third Round Quarterfinals
6  A Murray (GBR) 65 4  
   Y-h Lu (TPE) 77 6      Y-h Lu (TPE) 6 6  
   A Calleri (ARG) 6 6      A Calleri (ARG) 4 4  
Alt  D Mullings (BAH) 1 1      Y-h Lu (TPE) 2 4  
   M Daniel (BRA) 711 1 6    J Melzer (AUT) 6 6  
   J Melzer (AUT) 69 6 8    J Melzer (AUT) 6 6  
   F Dancevic (CAN) 6 3 2  9  S Wawrinka (SUI) 4 0  
9  S Wawrinka (SUI) 4 6 6    J Melzer (AUT) 0 4  
16  R Štěpánek (CZE) 6 65 9 2  R Nadal (ESP) 6 6  
   M Llodra (FRA) 4 77 11    M Llodra (FRA) 4 6 1
   S Querrey (USA) 4 4      I Andreev (RUS) 6 3 6
   I Andreev (RUS) 6 6      I Andreev (RUS) 4 2  
   L Hewitt (AUS) 7 77   2  R Nadal (ESP) 6 6  
IP  J Björkman (SWE) 5 62      L Hewitt (AUS) 1 2  
   P Starace (ITA) 2 6 2 2  R Nadal (ESP) 6 6  
2  R Nadal (ESP) 6 3 6

References
  1. "Singles, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  2. "Gonzalez locks consecutive Olympic medal". The official website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. 15 August 2008. Archived from the original on 15 August 2008. Retrieved 17 August 2008.
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