Daniel Cukierman

Daniel Cukierman (Hebrew: דניאל צוקרמן; born 9 July 1995) is an Israeli tennis player.

Daniel Cukierman
דניאל צוקרמן

Country (sports)	Israel
Born	(1995-07-09) 9 July 1995 (age 29) Tel Aviv, Israel
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	$132,469
Singles
Career record	5–7 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 339 (May 29, 2023)
Current ranking	No. 502 (30 September 2024)
Doubles
Career record	6-4 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 164 (30 September 2024)
Current ranking	No. 164 (30 September 2024)
Last updated on: 05 October 2024.

During his junior year at the University of Southern California from November 13, 2019, until the close of competition in 2020, Cukierman was ranked No. 1 in the US in singles among men’s college tennis players in the 2019–20 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division I Men’s Individual National Rankings.

Cukierman has a career-high ATP singles ranking of 339, achieved on May 29, 2023.^[1] He also has a career-high ATP doubles ranking of 182, achieved on 16 October 2023.^[1] As of January 15, 2024, he was ranked 486 in the world by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).

Early life

Cukierman was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, to Galia and businessman Edouard Cukierman (chairman of Cukierman & Co. Investment House).^[2][1][3] He has two brothers, Michael and Ariel.^[3] He attended Ironi Daled High School in Tel Aviv.^[4][5]

He was in the Israel Defense Forces for three years.^[6] After Cukierman was released from the IDF, Cukierman had a mandatory eight-month break from competition.^[7][8]

Tennis career

When he was 18 years of age, Cukierman started training with Israeli Amos Mansdorf, and won an Israel championship.^[9] While in high school, he won the Israeli doubles title.^[9]

Cukierman reached the singles finals at the 2016 Greece F9 Futures, and the 2016 Israel F14 Futures and F13 Futures, and reached the doubles final at the 2016 Israel F15 Futures.^[4] In December 2017, he won the Israel National Championship in doubles.^[10] In December 2019, he won the Israel National Championship in singles.^[11]

In January 2020, partnering with Riley Smith, Cukierman won the M25 Los Angeles doubles championship.^[12]

College

In 2017 Cukierman started his studies at the University of Southern California (USC), where he is playing for the USC Trojans tennis team.^[4] Cukierman said: "My feeling is to go to college, and after college, I can go pro and try my chances. And if it doesn’t work, I have my degree, so I’ll have other options. I feel like it’s better to start studying when you’re 22 (because I was in the Army) than when you’re 32."^[7] He began as an international relations major, and switched to real estate development.^[9]

In his freshman year in 2017–18 he was ranked No. 62 in the US in singles, and won All-Pac-12 Second Team honors.^[3] Cukierman went 16–5 in singles and 15–4 in doubles with Tanner Smith, and at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Team Indoor Championships he was named to the All-Tournament Team at No. 3 doubles.^[3]

At the close of his sophomore year in 2018–19 Cukierman was ranked No. 21 in the US in singles, having reached No. 4 in singles and No. 21 in doubles rankings on February 6, 2019.^[3] He was named to All-Pac-12 First Team, and received Pac-12 All-Academic Honorable Mention.^[3] He went 34–11 in singles.^[3] In doubles, he was 26–11, playing again primarily with Tanner Smith.^[3] In October 2018, he won the Southern California Intercollegiate Singles title.^[13] He also won the Oracle ITA National Fall Singles Championship.^[3]

While team captain during his junior year, from November 13, 2019, until the close of competition in 2020, Cukierman was ranked No. 1 in the US in singles among men’s college tennis players in the 2019–20 ITA Division I Men’s Individual National Rankings.^[14][9][15] He was the first USC player to be ranked #1 in the nation since Steve Johnson in 2012.^[16] He was 26–2 in singles in 2019–20.^[15] He won the singles title and the doubles title (with Riley Smith) at the Sherwood Collegiate Cup in Thousand Oaks, California, and also won the Oracle Pro Series ITA Masters championships in singles and doubles (also with Smith).^[16][15][17] He and Smith ranked No. 5 in the US in doubles when competition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.^[15] He was the Pac-12 Player of the Week on January 21 and February 18, 2020, and the UTR/ITA Player of the Week on February 18.^[16][14] He was named to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship All-Tournament team at No. 2 singles, and at No. 1 doubles with Smith.^[16][15] He was also named a 2020 ITA All-American.^[15]

National representation

Davis Cup

Cukierman plays for the Israel Davis Cup team in the Davis Cup.^[18] He was first nominated to the team for the 2017 Davis Cup, and played in a match against Portuguese tennis player Frederico Ferreira Silva. In March 2020 he won both singles (defeating Cem Ilkel, ranked #195 in the world, 7–6(4), 6–2 and doubles (with Australian Open doubles champion Jonathan Erlich; defeating Yanki Erel and Ilkel, 6–3, 6–1) matches against Turkey at the Davis Cup Group 1 qualifiers in Antalya, Turkey.^[1][19][9]

ATP Challenger and Futures/ITF World Tennis Tour finals

Singles: 10 (3–7)

Legend (singles) ATP Challenger Tour (0–0) Futures/ITF World Tennis Tour (3–7)

Finals by surface Hard (3–5) Clay (0–2) Grass (0–0) Carpet (0–0)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Sep 2016	Israel F13, Kiryat Gat	Futures	Hard	Austin Smith	1–6, 2–6
Loss	0–2	Oct 2016	Israel F14, Meitar	Futures	Hard	Roman Safiullin	0–6, 4–6
Loss	0–3	Nov 2016	Greece F9, Heraklion	Futures	Hard	Carlos Gómez-Herrera	2–6, 2–6
Loss	0–4	Aug 2019	M25, Roehampton, United Kingdom	World Tennis Tour	Hard	Eric Quigley	6–4, 3–6, 2–6
Loss	0–5	Jul 2021	M25, Belgrade, Serbia	World Tennis Tour	Clay	Nick Hardt	6–3, 3–6, 3–6
Win	1–5	May 2022	M15, Akko, Israel	World Tennis Tour	Hard	Ben Patael	7–5, 6–2
Win	2–5	May 2022	M25, Netanya, Israel	World Tennis Tour	Hard	Kyle Seelig	6–1, 6–2
Win	3–5	Oct 2022	M25, Afula, Israel	World Tennis Tour	Hard	Filip Peliwo	7–6(7–4), 6–3
Loss	3–6	Nov 2022	M25, Heraklion, Greece	World Tennis Tour	Hard	Térence Atmane	3–6, 6–2, 4–6
Loss	3–7	May 2023	M25, Gurb, Spain	World Tennis Tour	Clay	David Jordà Sanchis	3–6, 1–6

Doubles: 29 (19-10)

Legend (singles) ATP Challenger Tour (3-3) Futures/ITF World Tennis Tour (16–7)

Finals by surface Hard (13-8) Clay (6-2) Grass (0–0) Carpet (0–0)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1-0	May 2015	Israel F5, Ashkelon	Futures	Hard	Edan Leshem	Sam Barry Evgeny Karlovskiy	7-5, 7-5
Loss	1-1	May 2015	Israel F6, Akko	Futures	Hard	Dekel Bar	Sam Barry Toby Martin	3-6, 5-7
Loss	1-2	May 2016	Israel F7, Tel Aviv	Futures	Hard	Edan Leshem	Nicolas Meister Hunter Reese	5-7, 5-7
Win	2-2	Oct 2016	Israel F6, Ramat Hasharon	Futures	Hard	Scott Clayton	Shahar Elbaz Volodymyr Uzhylovskyi	6-4, 6-3
Win	3-2	Jun 2018	Israel F8, Tel Aviv	Futures	Hard	Edan Leshem	Dan Added Albano Olivetti	6-4, 6-2
Win	4-2	Jul 2019	M25, Porto, Portugal	World Tennis Tour	Hard	Martin Beran	Francisco Dias Goncalo Falcao	7–6(8-6), 7-5
Win	5-2	Jan 2020	M25, Los Angeles, United States Of America	World Tennis Tour	Hard	Riley Smith	Sandro Ehrat Brandon Holt	7–6(7-4), 7–6(7-5)
Loss	5-3	Jul 2021	M25, Belgrade, Serbia	World Tennis Tour	Clay	Andrew Fenty	Giovanni Oradini Strahinja Rakic	3-6, 6-4, [7-10]
Win	6-3	Sep 2021	M25, Johannesburg, South Africa	World Tennis Tour	Hard	Alastair Gray	Mateus Alves Igor Marcondes	7–6(7-5), 6-3
Loss	6-4	Nov 2021	M25, Afula, Israel	World Tennis Tour	Hard	Dan Added	Lior Goldenberg Sahar Simon	6-7(7-9), 6-2, [7-10]
Win	7-4	Dec 2021	M15, Antalya, Turkey	World Tennis Tour	Clay	Tadas Babelis	Berk Ilkel S Mert Ozdemir	6-3, 6-7(4-7), [10-4]
Loss	7-5	Mar 2022	M25, Bakersfield, United States Of America	World Tennis Tour	Hard	Ruan Roelofse	Nam Ji-sung Song Min-kyu	2-6, 0-6
Win	8-5	May 2022	M25, Ulcinj, Romania	World Tennis Tour	Clay	Cezar Cretu	Mili Poljičak Stefan Popovic	6-4, 6-1
Win	9-5	May 2022	M25, Prague, Czech Republic	World Tennis Tour	Clay	Andrew Harris	Filip Duda Peter Heller	6-0, 6-3
Win	10-5	May 2022	M15, Akko, Israel	World Tennis Tour	Hard	Edan Leshem	Giles Hussey Daniel Little	6-3, 6-4
Loss	10-6	Jul 2022	Malaga, Spain	Challenger	Hard	Emilio Gomez	Altug Celikbilek Dmitry Popko	7–6(7-4), 4-6, [6-10]
Win	11-6	Oct 2022	M25, Glasgow, United Kingdom	World Tennis Tour	Hard	Giles Hussey	Anton Matusevich joshua Paris	6-7(3-7), 6-4, [10-8]
Win	12-6	Oct 2022	M25, Afula, Israel	World Tennis Tour	Hard	Joshua Paris	Vladyslav Orlov Eric Vanshelboim	6-3, 6-3
Win	13-6	Nov 2022	M25, Jerusalem, Israel	World Tennis Tour	Hard	Joshua Paris	Filip Peliwo Mattias Southcombe	6-3, 6-4
Loss	13-7	Nov 2022	M25, Heraklion, Greece	World Tennis Tour	Hard	Volodymyr Uzhylovskyi	Neil Oberleitner Tim Sandkaulen	2-6, 6-7(5-7)
Win	14-7	Jan 2023	M25, sunderland, United Kingdom	World Tennis Tour	Hard	Edan Leshem	Anton Matusevich Joshua Paris	2-6, 6-1, [10-3]
Win	15-7	May 2023	M25, Gurb, Spain	World Tennis Tour	Clay	Mariano Kestelboim	Dimitris Sakellaridis Stefanos Sakellaridis	6-3, 6-3
Win	16-7	Jun 2023	M25, Netanya, Israel	World Tennis Tour	Hard	Edan Leshem	Trey Hilderbrand Noah Schachter	6-3, 6-3
Loss	16-8	Jul 2023	M25, Netanya, Israel	World Tennis Tour	Hard	Edan Leshem	Trey Hilderbrand Noah Schachter	W/O
Win	17-8	Sep 2023	Mallorca, Spain	Challenger	Hard	Joshua Paris	Sriram Balaji Ramkumar Ramanathan	6-4, 6-4
Win	18-8	Apr 2024	Florianópolis, Brazil	Challenger	Clay	Carlos Sanchez Jover	Lorenzo Joaquín Rodríguez Franco Roncadelli	6-0, 3-6, [10-4]
Loss	18-9	Aug 2024	Grodzisk Mazowiecki, Poland	Challenger	Hard	Johannes Ingildsen	Charles Broom David Stevenson	3-6, 6-7(5-7)
Win	19-9	Sep 2024	Porto, Portugal	Challenger	Clay	Piotr Matuszewski	Romain Arneodo Théo Arribagé	6-4, 6-0
Loss	19-10	Oct 2024	Braga, Portugal	Challenger	Clay	Marco Bortolotti	Théo Arribagé Francisco Cabral	3-6, 4-6

References

1. "Daniel Cukierman | Overview | Tennis". ATP Tour.
2. Viva Sarah Press (January 9, 2020). "Off Court Advantage: Turning Athletes Into Star Investors"
3. "Daniel Cukierman - Men's Tennis". USC Athletics.
4. "Daniel Cukierman - 2017-18 Men's Tennis Roster," University of Southern California Official Athletic Site.
5. Thakur, Pratik (September 26, 2019). "Cukierman will represent tennis team in Malibu". Daily Trojan.
6. Parsa Nemati (September 23, 2017). "ATP Tour Vet Joins USC as Freshman". Cracked Racquets.
7. "Freshmen to Watch: Daniel Cukierman; The USC Freshmen on staying motivated, perspective, and getting it done on and off the court," March 28, 2018.
8. "Daniel Cukierman To Make His Way Back Up The Rankings". January 17, 2018.
9. Leichman, Abigail Klein (June 21, 2020). "Meet the Israeli king of US college tennis". ISRAEL21c.
10. "Sela, Khazaniuk return to Israel national finals". The Jerusalem Post.
11. "שלי ברזניאק ודניאל צוקרמן אלופי ישראל בטניס". ynet. December 29, 2019.
12. "Daniel Cukierman | Player Activity | Tennis". ATP Tour.
13. Hyun, Nathan (October 31, 2018). "Cukierman wins first singles title". Daily Trojan.
14. "Cukierman Captures Singles And Doubles Titles At Sherwood Cup". USC Athletics. January 20, 2020.
15. "Daniel Cukierman & Riley Smith Earn ITA All-America Accolades; Cukierman is a first-time All-American in singles and doubles". USC Athletics. April 28, 2020.
16. "Trojan Tennis Wraps 2020 On Top In Shortened Season". USC Athletics. March 27, 2020.
17. Thakur, Pratik (January 22, 2020). "Tennis wins singles and doubles crown in Thousand Oaks". Daily Trojan.
18. Allon Sinai (February 3, 2017). "Israel set to face Portugal in Davis Cup". The Jerusalem Post.
19. "Full Line-Up Confirmed For Davis Cup Finals 2020". Tennis TourTalk. March 8, 2020.

External links

• Daniel Cukierman at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Daniel Cukierman at the International Tennis Federation
• Daniel Cukierman at the Davis Cup
• Daniel Cukierman on Instagram
• "Sports SCene Season 9, Episode 3: Daniel Cukierman In-Studio," Annenberg Media, February 20, 2019
• "USTA SoCal Exclusive: Meet USC Trojans Tanner Smith and Daniel Cukierman," USTA Southern California, May 20, 2019