Rafael Nadal defeated the defending champion Roger Federer in a rematch of the previous year's final, 7–5, 6–7(3–7), 6–3 to win the singles tennis title at the 2008 Hamburg European Open. This was the last edition of the tournament played as an ATP Masters Series event, as it was downgraded to an ATP Tour 500 event for the 2009 season.

Seeds

The top eight seeds receive a bye into the second round. • # Roger Federer (final) • # 🇪🇸 Rafael Nadal (champion) • # 🇷🇸 Novak Djokovic (semifinals) • # 🇷🇺 Nikolay Davydenko (third round) • # 🇪🇸 David Ferrer (third round) • # 🇺🇸 Andy Roddick (withdrew due to a back injury) • # 🇺🇸 James Blake (second round) • # 🇫🇷 Richard Gasquet (second round) • # 🇨🇿 Tomáš Berdych (second round) • # 🇷🇺 Mikhail Youzhny (first round) • # 🇪🇸 Carlos Moyá (quarterfinals) • # 🇦🇷 Juan Mónaco (third round) • # 🇪🇸 Tommy Robredo (second round) • # 🇫🇷 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (second round) • # 🇬🇧 Andy Murray (third round) • # 🇫🇷 Paul-Henri Mathieu (first round) • # 🇪🇸 Nicolás Almagro (withdrew due to a wrist injury)

Draw

Finals

Top half

Section 1

Section 2

Bottom half

Section 3

Section 4

Qualifying

Qualifying seeds

• # 🇪🇸 Marcel Granollers (qualified) • # 🇫🇷 Julien Benneteau (qualified) • # 🇧🇪 Olivier Rochus (qualifying competition, Lucky loser) • # 🇨🇿 Ivo Minář (qualifying competition, Lucky loser) • # Victor Hănescu (first round) • # 🇷🇺 Marat Safin (qualified) • # 🇦🇹 Jürgen Melzer (first round) • # 🇧🇪 Kristof Vliegen (qualifying competition, Lucky loser) • # 🇷🇺 Evgeny Korolev (qualifying competition) • # Pablo Cuevas (first round) • # 🇷🇸 Boris Pašanski (qualifying competition) • # 🇵🇪 Luis Horna (qualified) • # 🇮🇹 Flavio Cipolla (first round) • # 🇪🇸 Alberto Martín (qualified)

Qualifiers

• # 🇪🇸 Marcel Granollers • # 🇫🇷 Julien Benneteau • # 🇪🇸 Alberto Martín • # 🇵🇪 Luis Horna • # 🇪🇸 José Antonio Sánchez de Luna • # 🇷🇺 Marat Safin • # 🇮🇹 Gianluca Naso

Lucky losers

• # 🇧🇪 Olivier Rochus • # Ivo Minář • # 🇧🇪 Kristof Vliegen

Qualifying draw

First qualifier

Second qualifier

Third qualifier

Fourth qualifier

Fifth qualifier

Sixth qualifier

Seventh qualifier