Taro Daniel is a Japanese professional tennis player who was born on January 27, 1993, in New York, United States. Aged just 7, his father Paul, who was himself a college-level player, introduced him to the sport and his talent was immediately evident.
Making his first appearance at the ITF level in 2010 would be a few years of hard graft before the Japanese youngster broke through bigger. After years of grinding out wins at ITF and Challenger level, it was in 2014 when his main draw ATP debut came about.
After heroically coming through three qualifying rounds at the Vina del Mar tournament in Chile, he went on to win his first two rounds at ATP main draw level, setting himself up for a quarterfinal appearance at his debut tournament. Despite a stellar performance, it was not until later that year he could consider himself a more regular member of the ATP Tour.
A Grand Slam debut at the US Open would have been enough for him to class 2014 as a breakthrough season, but additional main draw appearances in Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo contributed to his gradual climb up the rankings even more.
It was much of the same for the Japanese player in the coming years, with him still struggling to make the switch from Challenger to the ATP level. A first Grand Slam win at the 2016 French Open would have given him more confidence and impetus to continue.
2018 was when things really started picking up for Daniel. A first ATP title was on the cards at the Istanbul Open, seeing off players such as Matteo Berrettini and Jeremy Chardy on the way to the trophy. From there, the only way was up, becoming an established member of the Top 100 as well as reaching his first Grand Slam third round at the 2022 Australian Open.
This trajectory has continued even into 2024, with the US-born Japanese player reaching his career-best ranking of world number 58 at the start of the season. He’ll be hoping for more trophies come the end of his career.
