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Tennis at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Women's singles

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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.

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