# Tennis at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Women's singles

West Germany's Steffi Graf defeated Argentina's Gabriela Sabatini in the final, 6–3, 6–3 to win the gold medal in Women's Singles tennis at the 1988 Summer Olympics. With the win, Graf completed the Golden Slam, having also won all four majors earlier in 1988. The final was a rematch of the U.S. Open final earlier that year, where Graf also prevailed to complete the Grand Slam. The United States' Zina Garrison and Bulgaria's Manuela Maleeva-Fragnière won the bronze medals. It was the first medal in the event for West Germany, Argentina, and Bulgaria (each making their debut in the event), while the United States had previously earned medals in both of its prior appearances in 1900 and 1924.
The tournament was held from 23 September to 1 October at the Seoul Olympic Park Tennis Center. There were 48 competitors from 26 nations. Each nation had only one pair. There was no bronze-medal match.

## Background

This was the sixth appearance of the women's singles tennis. A women's event was held only once during the first three Games (only men's tennis was played in 1896 and 1904), but has been held at every Olympics for which there was a tennis tournament since 1908. Tennis was not a medal sport from 1928 to 1984, though there were demonstration events in 1968 and 1984.
West Germany's Steffi Graf had just become the fifth person to win the Grand Slam and was also the unofficial defending Olympic champion, having won the 1984 demonstration event (the official reigning gold medalist from 1924, Helen Wills, had retired from tennis 50 years earlier).
Of the 26 competing nations, 18 made their debut in the event. France and Great Britain each made their fifth appearance, tied for most among nations to that point.

## Competition format

The competition was a single-elimination tournament. Unlike previous Olympic tournaments, no bronze-medal match was held. All matches were best-of-three sets. The 12-point tie-breaker, common by 1988, was used in the Olympics for the first time.

## Schedule

All times are Korea Standard Time adjusted for daylight savings (UTC+10)
| Date | Time | Round |
| Friday, 23 September 1988 | | Round of 64 |
| Saturday, 24 September 1988 | | Round of 32 |
| Sunday, 25 September 1988 | | Round of 16 |
| Tuesday, 27 September 1988 | | Quarterfinals |
| Thursday, 29 September 1988 | | Semifinals |
| Saturday, 1 October 1988 | 11:13 | Final |

## Seeds

All seeds received a bye to the second round.
* Steffi Graf (FRG) (champion, gold medalist)
* Chris Evert (USA) (third round)
* Gabriela Sabatini (ARG) (final, silver medalist)
* Pam Shriver (USA) (quarterfinals)
* Helena Suková (TCH) (second round)
* Natasha Zvereva (URS) (quarterfinals)
* Manuela Maleeva-Fragnière (BUL) (semifinals, bronze medalist)
* Zina Garrison (USA) (semifinals, bronze medalist)
* Claudia Kohde-Kilsch (FRG) (second round)
* Katerina Maleeva (BUL) (third round)
* Larisa Savchenko (URS) (quarterfinals)
* Sylvia Hanika (FRG) (third round)

## Draw
### Key

* Q = Qualifier
* WC = Wild card
* LL = Lucky loser
* Alt = Alternate
* SE = Special exempt
* PR = Protected ranking
* ITF = ITF entry
* JE = Junior exempt
* w/o = Walkover
* r = Retired
* d = Defaulted
* SR = Special ranking

### Finals

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final (gold-medal match) | Final (gold-medal match) | Final (gold-medal match) | Final (gold-medal match) |
| 1 | Steffi Graf (FRG) | 6 | 4 | 6 | | | | | | | | |
| 11 | Larisa Savchenko (URS) | 2 | 6 | 3 | | | | | | | | |
| 11 | Larisa Savchenko (URS) | 2 | 6 | 3 | 1 | Steffi Graf (FRG) | 6 | 6 | | | | |
| | | | | | 8 | Zina Garrison (USA) | 2 | 0 | | | | |
| 4 | Pam Shriver (USA) | 2 | 3 | | 8 | Zina Garrison (USA) | 2 | 0 | | | | |
| 8 | Zina Garrison (USA) | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Zina Garrison (USA) | 6 | 6 | | | | | | 1 | Steffi Graf (FRG) | 6 | 6 |
| | | | | | | | | | 3 | Gabriela Sabatini (ARG) | 3 | 3 |
| 6 | Natasha Zvereva (URS) | 4 | 3 | | | | | | | | | | 3 | Gabriela Sabatini (ARG) | 3 | 3 |
| 3 | Gabriela Sabatini (ARG) | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | |
| 3 | Gabriela Sabatini (ARG) | 6 | 6 | | 3 | Gabriela Sabatini (ARG) | 6 | 6 | | | | |
| | | | | | 7 | Manuela Maleeva-Fragnière (BUL) | 1 | 2 | | | | |
| 7 | Manuela Maleeva-Fragnière (BUL) | 6 | 6 | | 7 | Manuela Maleeva-Fragnière (BUL) | 1 | 2 | | | | |
| | Raffaella Reggi (ITA) | 3 | 4 | | | | | | | | | |

### Top half
#### Section 1

| First round | First round | First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Third round | Third round | Third round | Third round | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals |
| | | | | | 1 | S Graf (FRG) | 7 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | R Rajchrtová (TCH) | 5 | 5 | | Q | L Meskhi (URS) | 5 | 1 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Q | L Meskhi (URS) | 7 | 7 | | | | | | | 1 | S Graf (FRG) | 6 | 6 | | | | | |
| LL | C Suire (FRA) | 6 | 3 | 6 | | | | | | LL | C Suire (FRA) | 3 | 0 | | | | | |
| | Y Basuki (INA) | 3 | 6 | 0 | LL | C Suire (FRA) | 7 | 4 | 7 | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | Q | J-M Lee (KOR) | 5 | 6 | 5 | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1 | S Graf (FRG) | 6 | 4 | 6 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 11 | L Savchenko (URS) | 2 | 6 | 3 |
| | | | | | 11 | L Savchenko (URS) | 6$^3$ | 7 | 9 | | | | | | | | | |
| | S Gomer (GBR) | 4 | 7 | 6 | | S Gomer (GBR) | 7 | 6$^3$ | 7 | | | | | | | | | |
| | B Cordwell (NZL) | 6 | 5 | 2 | | | | | | 11 | L Savchenko (URS) | 6 | 7 | | | | | |
| | I-S Kim (KOR) | 6 | 3 | 7 | | | | | | | I-S Kim (KOR) | 3 | 6$^4$ | | | | | |
| WC | E Inoue (JPN) | 3 | 6 | 5 | | I-S Kim (KOR) | 6 | 4 | 6 | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | 5 | H Suková (TCH) | 2 | 6 | 2 | | | | | | | | | |

#### Section 2

| First round | First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Third round | Third round | Third round | Third round | Third round | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals |
| | | | | 4 | P Shriver (USA) | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | |
| | J Hetherington (CAN) | 6 | 6 | | J Hetherington (CAN) | 2 | 3 | | | | | | | | | |
| Q | I Berger (ISR) | 1 | 4 | | | | | 4 | P Shriver (USA) | 6 | 3 | 6 | | | | |
| | H Kelesi (CAN) | 5 | 5 | | | | | 10 | K Maleeva (BUL) | 3 | 6 | 2 | | | | |
| Q | G Miró (BRA) | 7 | 7 | Q | G Miró (BRA) | 5 | 1 | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | 10 | K Maleeva (BUL) | 7 | 6 | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | 4 | P Shriver (USA) | 2 | 3 |
| Q | I Demongeot (FRA) | 4 | 3 | | | | | | | | | | 8 | Z Garrison (USA) | 6 | 6 |
| | J Novotná (TCH) | 6 | 6 | | J Novotná (TCH) | 4 | 3 | | | | | | | | | |
| Q | B Paulus (AUT) | 7 | 6 | Q | B Paulus (AUT) | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | |
| | B Fulco (ARG) | 6$^5$ | 4 | | | | | Q | B Paulus (AUT) | 5 | 2 | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | 8 | Z Garrison (USA) | 7 | 6 | | | | | |
| | | | | Q | C Hernández Salas (MEX) | 1 | 4 | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | 8 | Z Garrison (USA) | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | |

### Bottom half
#### Section 3

| First round | First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Third round | Third round | Third round | Third round | Third round | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals |
| | | | | 6 | N Zvereva (URS) | 6 | 3 | 6 | | | | | | | | | |
| | A Minter (AUS) | 6 | 6 | | A Minter (AUS) | 4 | 6 | 1 | | | | | | | | | |
| Q | X Escobedo (MEX) | 1 | 3 | | | | | | 6 | N Zvereva (URS) | 6 | 6 | | | | | |
| | W Turnbull (AUS) | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | T Scheuer-Larsen (DEN) | 1 | 2 | | | | | |
| | C Wood (GBR) | 1 | 3 | | W Turnbull (AUS) | 4 | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | W Bouchabou (ALG) | 0 | 1 | | T Scheuer-Larsen (DEN) | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | T Scheuer-Larsen (DEN) | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | 6 | N Zvereva (URS) | 4 | 3 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 3 | G Sabatini (ARG) | 6 | 6 |
| | | | | 12 | S Hanika (FRG) | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | Q | J Muir (ZIM) | 1 | 1 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | 12 | S Hanika (FRG) | 6 | 4 | 2 | | | | |
| | A Sánchez Vicario (ESP) | 4 | 2 | | | | | | 3 | G Sabatini (ARG) | 1 | 6 | 6 | | | | |
| | S Goleš (YUG) | 6 | 6 | | S Goleš (YUG) | 1 | 0 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | 3 | G Sabatini (ARG) | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | |

#### Section 4

| First round | First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Third round | Third round | Third round | Third round | Third round | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals |
| | | | | 7 | M Maleeva-Fragnière (BUL) | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | M Paz (ARG) | 7 | 6 | | M Paz (ARG) | 1 | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Q | O Tsarbopoulou (GRE) | 6$^7$ | 3 | | | | | | 7 | M Maleeva-Fragnière (BUL) | 6 | 6 | | | | | |
| Q | K Okamoto (JPN) | 6$^3$ | 5 | | | | | | WC | C Lindqvist (SWE) | 1 | 0 | | | | | |
| WC | C Lindqvist (SWE) | 7 | 7 | WC | C Lindqvist (SWE) | 2 | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | |
| | N Tauziat (FRA) | 7 | 6 | | N Tauziat (FRA) | 6 | 3 | 4 | | | | | | | | | |
| | C Bassett-Seguso (CAN) | 6$^5$ | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | 7 | M Maleeva-Fragnière (BUL) | 6 | 6 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | R Reggi (ITA) | 3 | 4 |
| | | | | 9 | C Kohde-Kilsch (FRG) | 6 | 6$^3$ | 3 | | | | | | | | | |
| | E Smylie (AUS) | 6$^3$ | 0 | | R Reggi (ITA) | 4 | 7 | 6 | | | | | | | | | |
| | R Reggi (ITA) | 7 | 6 | | | | | | | R Reggi (ITA) | 2 | 6 | 6 | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | 2 | C Evert (USA) | 6 | 4 | 1 | | | | |
| | | | | WC | S Cecchini (ITA) | 2 | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | 2 | C Evert (USA) | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | |