Date | 10 – 17 August 2008 | |
---|---|---|
Status | Olympic | |
Location | Beijing Aolinpike Gongyuan Wangqiuchang, Beijing Aolinpike Gongyuan, Beijing | |
Participants | 64 from 33 countries | |
Format | Single-elimination tournament. |
The favorite was Spain’s Rafael Nadal, who was the hottest player on the ATP Tour in 2008, and was poised to displace Switzerland’s legendary Roger Federer from the #1 world ranking. Nadal had recently won the French Open (as he always did) and Wimbledon, and had a 32-match winning streak that was ended at the Cincinnati Open, his final tournament before the Beijing Olympics. Both Federer and Nadal won their first three matches, but Federer was then upset by American James Blake in the quarter-finals. Blake then lost to Chile’s Fernando González in the semis in three sets, while Nadal advanced to the final with a difficult three-set win over Serbia’s Novak Đoković. Đoković was world ranked #3, but was not yet the dominant force in tennis that he would become in the next few years.
González was hoping to match his countryman, Nicolás Massú, who had won the Olympic singles gold in 2004, but the final was relatively easy for Nadal, who defeated González in straight sets, although it was not a runaway, winning 6-3, 7-6 (2), 6-3. The next day, Nadal advanced to become the #1 ranked player in the world, displacing Federer, who had been ranked #1 for a record 237 consecutive weeks. In the third-place match Đoković dispatched Blake with ease in straight sets to win the bronze medal.
Winners advanced to round two.
Winners advanced to round three.
Match #1 | Roger Federer | ![]() | 1 | Rafael Arévalo | ![]() | WC | 6-2, 6-4 |
Match #2 | Tomáš Berdych | ![]() | 17 | Andreas Seppi | ![]() | 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) | |
Match #3 | Gilles Simon | ![]() | 10 | Willy Cañas | ![]() | 7-5, 6-1 | |
Match #4 | James Blake | ![]() | 8 | Dominik Hrbatý | ![]() | 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 6-3 | |
Match #5 | Paul-Henri Mathieu | ![]() | Nikolay Davydenko | ![]() | 4 | 7-5, 6-3 | |
Match #6 | Nicolas Kiefer | ![]() | 15 | Kevin Anderson | ![]() | ITF | 6-4, 6-7 (6-7), 6-4 (–-–) |
Match #7 | Fernando González | ![]() | 12 | Marin Čilić | ![]() | 6-4, 6-2 | |
Match #8 | Olivier Rochus | ![]() | Janko Tipsarević | ![]() | 7-6 (7-5), 2-3 (–-–) | ||
Match #9 | David Nalbandian | ![]() | 7 | Nicolás Massú | ![]() | ITF | 7-6 (7-0), 6-1 |
Match #10 | Gaël Monfils | ![]() | Victor Hănescu | ![]() | 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) | ||
Match #11 | Mikhail Yuzhny | ![]() | 13 | Thomas Johansson | ![]() | 7-5, 6-2 | |
Match #12 | Novak Đoković | ![]() | 3 | Rainer Schüttler | ![]() | 6-4, 6-2 | |
Match #13 | Lu Yen-Hsun | ![]() | Agustín Calleri | ![]() | 6-4, 6-4 | ||
Match #14 | Jürgen Melzer | ![]() | Stanislas Wawrinka | ![]() | 9 | 6-4, 6-0 | |
Match #15 | Igor Andreyev | ![]() | Michaël Llodra | ![]() | 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 | ||
Match #16 | Rafael Nadal | ![]() | 2 | Lleyton Hewitt | ![]() | 6-1, 6-2 |
Winners advanced to quarter-finals.
Match #1 | Roger Federer | ![]() | 1 | Tomáš Berdych | ![]() | 17 | 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) |
Match #2 | James Blake | ![]() | 8 | Gilles Simon | ![]() | 10 | 6-4, 6-2 |
Match #3 | Paul-Henri Mathieu | ![]() | Nicolas Kiefer | ![]() | 15 | 6-3, 7-5 | |
Match #4 | Fernando González | ![]() | 12 | Olivier Rochus | ![]() | 6-0, 6-3 | |
Match #5 | Gaël Monfils | ![]() | David Nalbandian | ![]() | 7 | 6-4, 6-4 | |
Match #6 | Novak Đoković | ![]() | 3 | Mikhail Yuzhny | ![]() | 13 | 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 |
Match #7 | Jürgen Melzer | ![]() | Lu Yen-Hsun | ![]() | 6-2, 6-4 | ||
Match #8 | Rafael Nadal | ![]() | 2 | Igor Andreyev | ![]() | 6-4, 6-2 |
Winners advanced to semi-finals.
Match #1 | James Blake | ![]() | 8 | Roger Federer | ![]() | 1 | 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) |
Match #2 | Fernando González | ![]() | 12 | Paul-Henri Mathieu | ![]() | 6-4, 6-4 | |
Match #3 | Novak Đoković | ![]() | 3 | Gaël Monfils | ![]() | 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 | |
Match #4 | Rafael Nadal | ![]() | 2 | Jürgen Melzer | ![]() | 6-0, 6-4 |
Winners advanced to final round.
Match #1 | Fernando González | ![]() | 12 | James Blake | ![]() | 8 | 4-6, 7-5, 11-9 |
Match #2 | Rafael Nadal | ![]() | 2 | Novak Đoković | ![]() | 3 | 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 |
Match 1/2 | Rafael Nadal | ![]() | 2 | Fernando González | ![]() | 12 | 6-3, 7-6 (7-2), 6-3 |
Match 3/4 | Novak Đoković | ![]() | 3 | James Blake | ![]() | 8 | 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) |