Stefan Edberg defeated Boris Becker in the final, 4–6, 7–6(7–2), 6–4, 6–2 to win the gentlemen's singles tennis title at the 1988 Wimbledon Championships. It was his first Wimbledon singles title and third major singles title overall. Most of the final was played on the third Monday. On Sunday, Becker and Edberg only managed 22 minutes of constantly interrupted play due to rain, with Edberg leading 3–2 in the first set before the rest of the final was played the next day. Pat Cash was the defending champion, but lost in the quarterfinals to Becker. Reigning Australian Open and French Open champion Mats Wilander attempted to become the first man to achieve the Surface Slam (winning majors on hard court, clay and grass in the same calendar year), and also attempted to become the first man to win the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon titles in the same year since Rod Laver in 1969. He lost to Miloslav Mečíř in the quarterfinals. This would be his only loss at the majors this year, as he went on to win the US Open as well. Three-time champion John McEnroe competed for the first time since 1985, losing in the second round to Wally Masur. This tournament also featured the first appearance of future champion Goran Ivanišević.

Seeds

Ivan Lendl (semifinals) 🇸🇪 Mats Wilander (quarterfinals) 🇸🇪 Stefan Edberg (champion) 🇦🇺 Pat Cash (quarterfinals) 🇺🇸 Jimmy Connors (fourth round) Boris Becker (final) 🇫🇷 Henri Leconte (fourth round) 🇺🇸 John McEnroe (second round) Miloslav Mečíř (semifinals) 🇺🇸 Tim Mayotte (quarterfinals) 🇸🇪 Anders Järryd (second round) 🇸🇪 Jonas Svensson (third round) 🇪🇸 Emilio Sánchez (second round) Andrei Chesnokov (first round) 🇮🇱 Amos Mansdorf (second round) Slobodan Živojinović (fourth round)

Qualifying

Draw

Finals

Top half

Section 1

Section 2

Section 3

Section 4

Bottom half

Section 5

Section 6

Section 7

Section 8