Four-time defending champion

Roger Federer Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, including a record 237 consecutive weeks, and finished as the year-e ...

defeated Andy Murray in the final, 6–2, 7–5, 6–2 to win the men's singles tennis title at the 2008 US Open. It was his fifth consecutive US Open title and 13th major title overall, as well as his only successful title defense in majors that year (after losing at the Australian Open and Wimbledon). He moved to second place on the all time men's singles Grand Slam wins list, passing

Roy Emerson Roy Stanley Emerson (born 3 November 1936) is an Australian former tennis player who won 12 Grand Slam singles titles and 16 Grand Slam doubles titles, for a total of 28 Grand Slam titles. He is the only male player to have completed a caree ...

. Murray became the first British man to reach a major final since

Greg Rusedski Gregory Rusedski (born 6 September 1973) is a British and Canadian former tennis player. He was the British No. 1 in 1997, 1999 and 2006, and reached the ATP ranking of world No. 4 for periods from 6 October 1997 to 12 October 1997 and from 25 ...

at the 1997 US Open, and was attempting to become the first British man to win a major title since

Fred Perry Frederick John Perry (18 May 1909 – 2 February 1995) was a British tennis and table tennis player and former world No. 1 from England who won 10 Majors including eight Grand Slam tournaments and two Pro Slams single titles, as well ...

in 1936. Murray would eventually achieve the latter by winning the US Open title four years later.

Rafael Nadal Rafael Nadal Parera (, ; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 2 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has been ranked world No. 1 for 209 weeks, and has finish ...

was attempting to become the first man to achieve the Surface Slam (winning majors on

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns a ...

and hard courts in the same calendar year), having already won the French Open and Wimbledon titles. He also could have become the first man to win the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open since Rod Laver in 1969, but lost to Murray in the semifinals. He would eventually do it two years later. This was

Juan Martín del Potro Juan Martín del Potro () (born 23 September 1988) is an Argentine inactive professional tennis player. Del Potro's biggest achievement is a major title: the 2009 US Open, where he defeated Rafael Nadal in the semifinals and the five-time defen ...

's first major appearance as a seeded player. He lost in the quarterfinals against Murray to end a 23-match winning streak. He would go on to win the title the following year. Another future champion,

Marin Čilić Marin Čilić (; born 28 September 1988) is a Croatian professional tennis player. Čilić has won 20 ATP Tour singles titles, including a major at the 2014 US Open. He was also runner-up at the 2017 Wimbledon Championships and the 2018 Austral ...

, appeared in the main draw of the US Open for the first time. This was the last major for

2002 Australian Open The 2002 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts at Melbourne Park in Melbourne in Australia. It was the 90th edition of the Australian Open and was held from 14 through 27 January 2002 and attracted an attendance o ...

champion and former world No. 7 Thomas Johansson.

Seeds

Qualifying draw

Draw

Finals

Top half

Section 1

Section 2

Section 3

Section 4

Bottom half

Section 5

Section 6

Section 7

Section 8

References

External links

Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) – 2008 US Open Men's Singles draw2008 US Open – Men's draws and results
at the

International Tennis Federation The International Tennis Federation (ITF) is the governing body of world tennis, wheelchair tennis, and beach tennis. It was founded in 1913 as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by twelve national tennis associations. As of 2016, there ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:2008 US Open - Men's Singles Men's Singles US Open (tennis) by year – Men's singles