Defending champion Rafael Nadal defeated Dominic Thiem in the final, 6–4, 6–3, 6–2 to win the men's singles tennis title at the 2018 French Open.

Nadal equaled Margaret Court's all-time record of 11 singles titles won at one major, and was the first player to achieve that feat in the Open Era.

Novak Djokovic was attempting to become the first man in the Open Era to achieve a double career Grand Slam, but he lost in the quarterfinals to Marco Cecchinato.

Thiem was the first Austrian to reach a major singles final since Thomas Muster at the 1995 French Open.

Cecchinato, ranked 72nd and having failed to win a main draw match in his four previous appearances, was the first unseeded men's singles semifinalist at the French Open since Gaël Monfils in 2008, the lowest-ranked man to reach the semifinals since Andriy Medvedev in 1999, and the first Italian man to reach a major singles semifinal since Corrado Barazzutti at the 1978 French Open.