Mats Wilander defeated three-time defending champion Ivan Lendl in a rematch of the previous year's final, 6–4, 4–6, 6–3, 5–7, 6–4 to win the men's singles tennis title at the 1988 US Open. It was his first US Open singles title and seventh and last major singles title overall. It was the longest US Open men's singles final in history, lasting 4 hours and 54 minutes.4 Things We Learned at the 2012 US Open | Bleacher Report With the win, Wilander gained the world No. 1 singles ranking for the first time, displacing Lendl.

By virtue of this title, Wilander became the first man in the Open Era to win multiple grand slam titles on hard, clay, and grass courts. It would be more than 2 decades before Rafael Nadal joined him, both reaching the milestone at 24 years old. In 2025, Carlos Alcaraz became the first player to reach this milestone before turning 24.

Aged 15 years and 2 months, Tommy Ho was the youngest man in the Open Era to appear in the main draw of a major. He lost in the first round to Johan Kriek.

This tournament marked the first major main draw appearances of two future world No. 1s: future 14-time major champion Pete Sampras and future four-time major champion Jim Courier.

Seeds The seeded players are listed below. Mats Wilander is the champion; others show the round in which they were eliminated.

Ivan Lendl (finalist) Mats Wilander (champion) Stefan Edberg (fourth round) Andre Agassi (semifinalist) Boris Becker (second round) Jimmy Connors (quarterfinalist) Yannick Noah (second round) Miloslav Mečíř (third round) Tim Mayotte (third round) Henri Leconte (third round) Brad Gilbert (second round) Guillermo Pérez Roldán (third round) Jonas Svensson (second round) Andrés Gómez (third round) Anders Järryd (third round) John McEnroe (second round)

Draw

Finals

Top half

Section 1

Section 2

Section 3

Section 4

Bottom half

Section 5

Section 6

Section 7

Section 8

References

External links Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) – 1988 US Open Men's Singles draw 1988 US Open – Men's draws and results at the International Tennis Federation