2008 Italian Open – Men's singles

Novak Djokovic defeated Stanislas Wawrinka in the final, 4–6, 6–3, 6–3 to win the men's singles tennis title at the 2008 Italian Open.

Rafael Nadal was the three-time defending champion, but lost in the second round to Juan Carlos Ferrero. Notably, this marked the first of two instances that Nadal lost his opening match at a clay court tournament.

Seeds
The top eight seeds receive a bye into the second round. • # Roger Federer (quarterfinals)

• # 🇪🇸 Rafael Nadal (second round)

• # 🇷🇸 Novak Djokovic (champion)

• # 🇷🇺 Nikolay Davydenko (third round)

• # 🇪🇸 David Ferrer (second round)

• # 🇺🇸 Andy Roddick (semifinals, retired due to a back injury)

• # 🇦🇷 David Nalbandian (second round)

• # 🇺🇸 James Blake (quarterfinals)

• # 🇫🇷 Richard Gasquet (first round)

• # 🇫🇷 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (first round)

• # 🇪🇸 Carlos Moyá (first round)

• # Fernando González (third round, withdrew due to a right hamstring injury)

• # 🇦🇷 Juan Mónaco (second round)

• # 🇪🇸 Tommy Robredo (quarterfinals)

• # 🇫🇷 Paul-Henri Mathieu (first round)

• # 🇬🇧 Andy Murray (second round)

Qualifying seeds
• # 🇫🇷 Gaël Monfils (qualifying competition, retired)

• # 🇸🇪 Jonas Björkman (qualifying competition)

• # Victor Hănescu (first round, retired)

• # 🇩🇪 Mischa Zverev (qualifying competition)

• # 🇦🇷 Juan Martín del Potro (qualified)

• # 🇪🇨 Nicolás Lapentti (qualified)

• # 🇫🇷 Arnaud Clément (qualifying competition)

• # 🇷🇺 Evgeny Korolev (qualified)

• # 🇷🇸 Boris Pašanski (qualifying competition)

• # Pablo Cuevas (qualified)

• # 🇩🇪 Benjamin Becker (qualifying competition)

• # 🇵🇪 Luis Horna (qualified)

• # 🇫🇷 Olivier Patience (qualified)

• # 🇫🇷 Édouard Roger-Vasselin (qualifying competition)

Qualifiers
• # 🇫🇷 Olivier Patience

• # 🇷🇺 Evgeny Korolev

• # 🇮🇹 Thomas Fabbiano

• # 🇵🇪 Luis Horna

• # 🇦🇷 Juan Martín del Potro

• # 🇪🇨 Nicolás Lapentti

• # Pablo Cuevas