Rafael Nadal was the three-time defending champion in the men 's singles , and won the title to become the first man to win the same Grand Slam title eight times .

Rafael Nadal was the defending Defending champion in the men 's event ; however , on 18 August , the Spaniard announced Expressing_publicly his withdrawal Removing from the event after failing Earnings_and_losses to recover Recovering from a wrist injury Bodily_harm , while Serena Williams was the two-time defending Defending champion in the women 's event .

Federer and Williams were two of a number of big-name casualties in the early rounds , along with two-time champion Rafael Nadal , two-time semifinalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga , 2004 champion Maria Sharapova and former World No .

Rafael Nadal won the men 's singles .