Czechoslovakia's Miloslav Mečíř defeated the United States' Tim Mayotte in the final, 3–6, 6–2, 6–4, 6–2, to win the gold medal in Men's Singles tennis at the 1988 Summer Olympics.

The United States' Brad Gilbert and Sweden's Stefan Edberg won the bronze medals.

This was the eighth (medal) appearance of the men's singles tennis event.

Number one seed and the favorite was Stefan Edberg of Sweden, the winner of the 1984 demonstration event as well as the reigning Wimbledon champion.

[1] Bermuda, Brazil, West Germany, Haiti, Israel, the Ivory Coast, New Zealand, Nigeria, Paraguay, Poland, South Korea, the Soviet Union, and Zimbabwe each made their debut in the event.