Daniel Elahi Galan was born in Bucaramanga, Colombia, on June 18, 1996, to his parents, Santos and Doris. Santos is Galan’s coach, while his siblings Sat, Xando, and Rocio also play tennis at a professional level.
Galan played his first Futures level competition in 2012. He spent the first three years of his career competing at Futures and Challenger level. However, in 2015, he won his first titles at Futures competitions in Manzanillo, Mexico, and Bogota, Colombia.
Moreover, Galan made his ATP Tour debut at the 2015 Claro Open in Colombia aged 19. He won his first-round match against Pere Riba but lost in round two. However, the Colombian player would have to wait three years before his next taste of ATP tennis and the 2018 Los Cabos Open.
But Galan continued to compete at Futures and Challenger competitions in between and won his maiden Challenger title at the 2018 San Benedetto Tennis Cup. In 2019, Galan entered qualifiers at all four Grand Slams but he couldn’t reach the main draws at any of the majors.
The Colombian did produce a strong run at the Houston Open, though, reaching the semi-finals before losing to Casper Ruud. Galan improved in 2020 and made his Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open. He then progressed to round three at the Roland Garros, losing to Novak Djokovic. To cap off a decent 2020 season, Galan won his second Challenger title at the Lima Challenger.
The Colombian was consistent again in 2021 and made his Masters debut at Indian Wells. He also reached the Miami Open main draw and got to the third round. Galan also made a strong showing at Wimbledon as he progressed to round two. In addition, he made his Olympics debut in 2021 but was eliminated by eventual winner Alexander Zverev in round two.
Galan had a mixed start to 2022. He failed to qualify for the Australian and French Opens, but put in some admirable performances at lower-ranked events, including a quarter-final run at the Cordoba Open. The Colombian kept improving and reached round three at Wimbledon and the US Open and progressed to two-quarter finals in San Diego and Naples.
Due to a consistent 2022 season, Galan rose to 67th in the ATP Rankings. Now established on the ATP Tour, Galan pushed on in 2023. During this season, the Colombian reached the main draws at all four majors.
In addition, he progressed to the fourth round at Wimbledon and climbed to 56th in the rankings following this run. Galan started 2024 with his first-ever Australian Open win as he defeated Jason Kubler. However, he was then eliminated in the second round.
