Dan Brand: Rising Star of Israeli Tennis
In a year when Israeli sports fans have been glued to soccer, baseball, and Deni Avdija’s rise in the NBA, one of the country’s most intriguing stories has been unfolding far from the spotlight, on quiet practice courts and far-flung junior events.
From Kfar Saba, a 17-year-old right-hander named Dan Brand is edging toward the top of world tennis.
Ranked No. 24 in the world junior boys’ rankings, Brand has already taken his game to the sport’s biggest stages. This season he played both singles and doubles at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, and he will line up in both draws again at the US Open juniors, which begin September 8 in Queens, New York.
At the French Open, his introduction to the clay of Paris was brutal and honest: a three-set first-round loss, 3-6, 7-5, 6-1, to local hope Mathys Domenc. In doubles, alongside American partner Safir Azam, he pushed through to the quarterfinals before bowing out. On the grass of Wimbledon, he went one better, reaching the second round in both singles and doubles.
For Israeli tennis, that trajectory matters.
“Dan is absolutely our next hope,” says Yoni Erlich, Israel’s Davis Cup captain and tennis director at the Israel Tennis and Education Centers. Erlich believes Brand is “on the right track to be in the top 20 for juniors” and points to recent “very nice wins” in a men’s Futures event, where the teenager reached the quarterfinals, as evidence that he is already dipping his toes into the professional waters. “Hopefully in the next few years, we can see another Grand Slam player. We can only hope and be patient.”
A country waiting for its next star
Israel has known big tennis moments, but they feel distant now.
Shahar Peer climbed to No. 11 in the world in 2011, the highest singles ranking ever achieved by an Israeli. Andy Ram and Jonathan Erlich lifted a Grand Slam trophy together, winning the Australian Open men’s doubles title in 2008 and rising to No. 5 in the world.
Then there is Amos Mansdorf, the benchmark for Israeli men’s singles. He reached No. 18 in the world in November 1987. Today, he is Brand’s coach.
Mansdorf has worked with Brand since the boy was 12. “It is nice to see him coming along and moving in a nice direction. He plays clever tennis and is quite good all around,” he says. Off the court, Mansdorf describes him as “nice, quiet, low-key, hard-working, and dedicated.”
On court, the veteran sees a competitor who “doesn’t panic,” a quality that cannot be taught. Mansdorf’s long-term vision is clear: he wants Brand to break into the top 50 on the men’s professional tour. For that, the teenager will need to keep adding muscle and firepower.
“He likes to compete, and does everything well. We are hoping he will get stronger; he still [is] young. In the future, we want him to have all the weapons for pro play – a big serve with enough power and precision to stay in with good players.”
Given Brand’s results and potential, Mansdorf expects he will receive a deferment from the IDF and head to “a good US college,” a path that has shaped many modern careers.
From bored soccer kid to world-stage prospect
The Brand story almost never happened.
Dan’s father, Shai, a tort lawyer, Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and former two-time world champion, remembers his son first and foremost as a soccer player. When the coach suggested the kids try other sports, Shai attempted to steer Dan toward jiu-jitsu.
“He said it was too boring!” Shai recalls. So Dan picked up a tennis racket at school instead.
The school coach didn’t hesitate. “I trained hundreds of kids; your son is something special,” he told Shai, urging him to enter Dan into a national competition. Shai resisted at first, convinced it was too soon. The results kept forcing the issue.
Looking for guidance, Shai approached Mansdorf. It proved decisive. Brand has worked privately with the former world No. 18 ever since, later following him to the Ra’anana City Tennis Center, not far from the family home in Kfar Saba.
Shai takes pride in that choice. His son still trains “in a local club,” not in some high-end European academy. No luxury base, no gilded bubble. Just hard work and familiar surroundings.
As Brand’s schedule has filled with international travel, the family dynamic has adjusted. Shai often travels with his son to tournaments, keeping an eye on his health, safety, and day-to-day needs. When he cannot be there, he leans on a growing global network of trusted contacts to “look out for Dan.”
Through it all, he insists his son remains grounded: mature, independent, and still “just a kid who is still in a regular school.”
Dan is the eldest of three. His mother, Ruth, is a speech therapist; his younger brother Nadav is 15, and his sister Shira is 10. “Dan’s got his mother’s calm,” Shai says.
A teenager on the move, with a racket and a laptop
When Brand speaks, the mix of teenager and professional is obvious.
He spoke to the Magazine just after a driving lesson, during a brief stopover at home before leaving for the ITF Grand Slam Player Development Program at the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, Maryland, a pre–US Open camp reserved for a select group of juniors. He is one of the very few Israelis to receive that invitation.
His school life is improvised around his schedule. He studies on his own on the road and returns to school in Israel mainly to sit exams. Homework often happens in hotel rooms and airport lounges.
He grins and admits, “My mother is pretty smart and helps a little with math and other subjects!”
Away from the court, Brand sounds like any other 17-year-old. He likes playing basketball, hanging out with friends, and spending time with his family. His inner circle, he says, “treat me the same as before,” even as his face starts to pop up on TV.
On tour, he has built friendships with peers from around the world. He says he has not encountered antisemitism directly, instead finding that some players “ask about the situation in Israel, and listen and try to understand.”
On his own game, he is disarmingly clear-eyed. He calls himself a “solid player and a counter-puncher,” and admits he needs to be more aggressive and serve faster. He describes himself as “a pretty focused, chill guy.”
Grass, the most unusual surface in tennis, has become a favorite. “It’s not a surface you play on every day,” he says. The novelty appeals, as does the routine that surrounds his life on tour.
His tennis idol is Novak Djokovic. Brand doesn’t dwell on the Serb’s resume – 101 ATP Tour-level singles titles, 24 Grand Slam crowns, an Olympic gold medal – as much as his mindset. “I like his mentality. He is so focused on the match!”
Humble, hungry, and already winning big
If the ranking and the Grand Slam appearances mark Brand out as a rising name, the people around him point just as quickly to his personality.
Shai says his son remains “so humble,” even as classmates start to recognize him from TV and whisper that he is “famous.” Dan, he insists, “will play with, and talk with, everyone. He is shy.”
Shai admits that the way people respond to his son matters as much to him as any title. “Everywhere he goes, people fall in love with his son and say, ‘Dan is amazing.’ This is more important to me than the tournaments,” he says, though he is clearly proud of the results too.
One win stands out. In May, Brand beat Jordan Lee 6-3, 6-2 in the final of the J300 Charleroi-Marcinelle/Astrid Bowl Charleroi Belgian International Championships. Lee, ranked No. 8 in the world, has since gone on to win the Wimbledon junior title. For Brand, it was a statement victory.
His surge has attracted attention from US colleges and from within Israel’s sporting establishment. Shai says his son may receive “ilui” (prodigy) status from the army, a step above the “sportai mitstayen” (outstanding athlete) classification. While outstanding athletes typically perform desk jobs in the IDF so they can continue to train, “ilui” status brings a full exemption, on the understanding that the athlete serves the country in another way – through sporting excellence.
Even so, Shai, whose own military background includes combat service, believes Dan will serve in the IDF at some point, following the family tradition. His father before him also served as a combat soldier.
Security concerns are impossible to ignore. Shai says he does not live in fear for his son, but admits that “after Oct. 7, you can feel people turning their backs on you.” Dan has reached out to some European players about potential doubles partnerships and has yet to receive replies. From the US, South America, and Asia, the response has been very different: players have been open, responsive, and kind.
Through it all, Shai is proud that his son continues to walk onto courts around the world under the Israeli flag, even when “a kid with a flag [of Israel]” can feel like a target. Brand could have chosen another route. With a German passport through his maternal grandfather, he had the option to represent Germany, with greater financial support on offer.
“He would have gotten more money, but Dan said ‘no,’ – he wants to do it the hard way!” Shai says.
Backing a rising talent
The next step is clear. To prepare for the US Open juniors, Brand is heading into the ITF’s Grand Slam player development program in Maryland. Mansdorf will not be able to travel with him to New York, but Brand will not be alone.
Shai will be there. So will Danny Perekalsky, CEO of the Israel Tennis Association, who has watched Brand’s progress closely and likes what he sees – not only the results, but the way the teenager carries himself.
“Dan is a really great kid. He shows a great mentality and behavior on and off the court, and he is a really great example for other kids with his behavior and style,” Perekalsky says.
He reels off recent highlights: titles in Thailand and Belgium, and an impressive run at the ITF M15 event in Astana, Kazakhstan, from August 3-9. There, Brand earned his first ATP ranking points by reaching the round of 16, edging fellow Israeli Oren Shimanov 6-3, 4-6, 7-5. “He has really made a big jump in the last six months!”
The ITA has thrown its weight behind Brand, alongside sponsors such as Rav Bariach, the Israeli company best known for its security doors and locking systems. Brand also benefits from the support of the Wingate Institute in Netanya, Israel’s National Center for Physical Education and Sport.
“He is now under their care,” Shai says. “I am just looking out for my son as a father.”
Perekalsky sees something bigger taking shape. “We are proud to support Dan and to have such a developing talent! Bravo also to Dan’s family and to coach Mansdorf. Amos is doing a great job with Dan. It is not a coincidence he is achieving the results he has been in the past six months.”
His prediction is bold and specific: Brand can break into the world’s top 10 juniors by January, if the next few months go to plan. As older players age out of the junior ranks at 18, the ladder will open, and Brand will be well-placed to climb.
“Israeli is waiting to have something to be proud of in tennis. And we need more than one Dan. We are proud, but it is only a start!” Perekalsky says.
The next chapter begins in New York, on the hard courts of Flushing Meadows, where a 17-year-old from Kfar Saba will walk out with a racket in his hand and a flag on his back, trying to prove that this “start” can turn into something far bigger.
