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Singles, Men

Date6 – 11 July 1908
StatusOlympic
LocationAll-England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club, Wimbledon
Participants31 from 9 countries
FormatSingle-elimination tournament.

The outdoor version of men’s singles attracted a meagre field, lacking the top British, American, and Australian players. The best British player of the era was Arthur “Wentworth” Gore, but he competed only in the covered court events. The top American player was Bill Larned, and the top Australasians were Norman Brookes (AUS) and Tony Wilding (NZL), but they did not compete.

In their absence, Josiah Ritchie won the gold medal, taking the final in four sets over the German Otto Froitzheim. Ritchie was a good player but never the top player in the world. His other titles in his career include: 1903-1906 and 1908 German singles; 1909 and 1914 British covered court singles; 1907 Irish singles; 1902, 1904, 1906, and 1909 London singles; 1908 and 1910 Wimbledon doubles (with Tony Wilding); 1907-07 British covered court doubles (with Tony Wilding); and the 1904 and 1906 German doubles.

PosCompetitorNOC
1Josiah RitchieGBRGold
2Otto FroitzheimGERSilver
3Wilberforce EavesGBRBronze
4John RichardsonRSA
=5Claude Russell-BrownCAN
=5George CaridiaGBR
=5Charles DixonGBR
=5Maurice GermotFRA
=9Walter CrawleyGBR
=9Bohuslav HykšBOH
=9Fritz von BissingGER
=9James ParkeGBR
=9Bobby PowellCAN
=9John FoulkesCAN
=9Karel Fuchs (Sláva)BOH
=16Heinrich SchomburgkGER
=16Victor GauntlettRSA
=16Dezső LauberHUN
=16Jenő ZsigmondyHUN
=16Artur ZborzilAUT
=16Ede TóthHUN
=16Oskar KreuzerGER
=16Ladislav ŽemlaBOH
=16Harry KitsonRSA
=16Roelof, Jonkheer van LennepNED
=26Friedrich-Wilhelm RaheGER
=26Rolf KinzlAUT
=26Josef GrussBOH
=26Fritz Felix PiepesAUT
=26Kenneth PowellGBR
=26Christiaan, Jonkheer van LennepNED
DNSKároly VitusBOH
DNSGeorge HillyardGBR
DNSKurt von WesselyAUT
DNSMax DecugisFRA
DNSJaroslav ŽemlaBOH
DNSZdeněk ŽemlaBOH
DNSÖdön SchmidHUN
DNSL. IvankaHUN
DNSGeorge Ball-GreeneGBR
DNSArthur Wentworth GoreGBR
DNSRoper BarrettGBR
DNSJosef Rössler-OřovskýBOH
DNSHedley SucklingCAN
DNSLaurie DohertyGBR

Round One

Date6 July 1908
FormatWinner of each match advanced to round two.
MatchDate/TimeCompetitorNOCResultCompetitorNOC
Match #1Károly VitusBOHbye
Match #2Hedley SucklingCANbye
Match #3Maurice GermotFRAbye
Match #4Heinrich SchomburgkGERbye
Match #5Josiah RitchieGBRbye
Match #6Victor GauntlettRSAbye
Match #7George HillyardGBRbye
Match #8Walter CrawleyGBRbye
Match #9Dezső LauberHUNbye
Match #1006 JulCharles DixonGBR3 – 0Friedrich-Wilhelm RaheGER
Match #1106 JulBohuslav HykšBOH – Ödön SchmidHUNwalkover
Match #1206 JulJenő ZsigmondyHUN – L. IvankaHUNwalkover
Match #1306 JulFritz von BissingGER – George Ball-GreeneGBRwalkover
Match #1406 JulArtur ZborzilAUT – Arthur Wentworth GoreGBRwalkover
Match #15Kurt von WesselyAUT – Roper BarrettGBR
Match #1606 JulWilberforce EavesGBR3 – 0Rolf KinzlAUT
Match #1706 JulEde TóthHUN1 – 0Josef GrussBOH
Match #1806 JulJames ParkeGBR – Josef Rössler-OřovskýBOHwalkover
Match #1906 JulOskar KreuzerGER3 – 0Fritz Felix PiepesAUT
Match #2006 JulOtto FroitzheimGER3 – 0Kenneth PowellGBR
Match #2106 JulBobby PowellCAN3 – 0Christiaan, Jonkheer van LennepNED
Match #22Ladislav ŽemlaBOH – Laurie DohertyGBRwalkover
Match #23George CaridiaGBRbye
Match #24Harry KitsonRSAbye
Match #25John FoulkesCANbye
Match #26Roelof, Jonkheer van LennepNEDbye
Match #27John RichardsonRSAbye
Match #28Max DecugisFRAbye
Match #29Karel Fuchs (Sláva)BOHbye
Match #30Jaroslav ŽemlaBOHbye
Match #31Claude Russell-BrownCANbye
Match #32Zdeněk ŽemlaBOHbye

Round Two

Date6 – 7 July 1908
FormatWinner of each match advanced to round three.
MatchDate/TimeCompetitorNOCResultCompetitorNOC
Match #106 JulKároly VitusBOH – Hedley SucklingCANwalkover
Match #206 JulMaurice GermotFRA3 – 0Heinrich SchomburgkGER
Match #306 JulJosiah RitchieGBR3 – 0Victor GauntlettRSA
Match #407 JulWalter CrawleyGBR – George HillyardGBRwalkover
Match #506 JulCharles DixonGBR3 – 0Dezső LauberHUN
Match #607 JulBohuslav HykšBOH3 – 1Jenő ZsigmondyHUN
Match #706 JulFritz von BissingGER3 – 0Artur ZborzilAUT
Match #806 JulWilberforce EavesGBR – Kurt von WesselyAUTwalkover
Match #907 JulJames ParkeGBR3 – 0Ede TóthHUN
Match #1007 JulOtto FroitzheimGER3 – 0Oskar KreuzerGER
Match #1107 JulBobby PowellCAN3 – 1Ladislav ŽemlaBOH
Match #1206 JulGeorge CaridiaGBR3 – 0Harry KitsonRSA
Match #1306 JulJohn FoulkesCAN3 – 0Roelof, Jonkheer van LennepNED
Match #1407 JulJohn RichardsonRSA – Max DecugisFRAwalkover
Match #1507 JulKarel Fuchs (Sláva)BOH – Jaroslav ŽemlaBOH
Match #1607 JulClaude Russell-BrownCAN – Zdeněk ŽemlaBOHwalkover

Round Three

Date6 – 9 July 1908
FormatWinner of each match advanced to the quarter-finals.
MatchDate/TimeCompetitorNOCResultCompetitorNOC
Match #1Maurice GermotFRA – Károly VitusBOHwalkover
Match #207 JulJosiah RitchieGBR3 – 0Walter CrawleyGBR
Match #307 JulCharles DixonGBR3 – 0Bohuslav HykšBOH
Match #407 JulWilberforce EavesGBR3 – 0Fritz von BissingGER
Match #508 JulOtto FroitzheimGER3 – 0James ParkeGBR
Match #608 JulGeorge CaridiaGBR3 – 1Bobby PowellCAN
Match #707 JulJohn RichardsonRSA3 – 0John FoulkesCAN
Match #807 JulClaude Russell-BrownCAN3 – 0Karel Fuchs (Sláva)BOH

Quarter-Finals

Date8 – 10 July 1908
FormatWinner of each match advanced to the semi-finals.
MatchDate/TimeCompetitorNOCResultCompetitorNOC
Match #108 JulJosiah RitchieGBR1 – 0Maurice GermotFRA
Match #208 JulWilberforce EavesGBR3 – 0Charles DixonGBR
Match #309 JulOtto FroitzheimGER3 – 1George CaridiaGBR
Match #409 JulJohn RichardsonRSA3 – 0Claude Russell-BrownCAN

Semi-Finals

Date9 – 10 July 1908
FormatWinner of each match advanced to the final round.
MatchDate/TimeCompetitorNOCResultCompetitorNOC
Match #109 JulJosiah RitchieGBR3 – 1Wilberforce EavesGBR
Match #210 JulOtto FroitzheimGER3 – 1John RichardsonRSA

Final Round

Date11 July 1908
MatchDate/TimeCompetitorNOCResultCompetitorNOC
Match 1/211 JulJosiah RitchieGBR3 – 0Otto FroitzheimGER
Match 3/411 JulWilberforce EavesGBR3 – 0John RichardsonRSA