Defending gold medalist Andy Murray of Great Britain successfully retained his title, defeating Juan Martín del Potro of Argentina in the final, 7–5, 4–6, 6–2, 7–5 to win the gold medal in Men's singles tennis at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

The number one seed was Novak Djokovic of Serbia, making his third Olympic appearance after reaching the semifinals in 2008 (bronze medal) and 2012 (fourth place).

Spain's Rafael Nadal, the 2008 gold medalist who was unable to compete in 2012 due to injury, was the third seed.

Sidelined with injury this time was Roger Federer of Switzerland (who, like Djokovic, needed only an Olympic gold for a career Golden Slam).

[3] Barbados, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Dominican Republic, Georgia, Lithuania, and Moldova each made their debut in the event.

An additional restriction was that players had to have been part of a nominated team for three Davis Cup events between 2013 and 2016 (with some exceptions).

[6] The countries bringing the maximum of four players are Argentina, Australia, France, Italy, Spain and United States.