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)

Draw

Finals

Top half

Section 1

Section 2

Bottom half

Section 3

Section 4

Qualifying

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

Qualifying draw

First qualifier

Second qualifier

Third qualifier

Fourth qualifier

Fifth qualifier

Sixth qualifier

Seventh qualifier