Daniel Cukierman

Daniel Cukierman
דניאל צוקרמן
Country (sports) Israel
Born (1995-07-09) 9 July 1995 (age 29)
Tel Aviv, Israel
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money$132,469
Singles
Career record5–7 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 339 (May 29, 2023)
Current rankingNo. 502 (30 September 2024)
Doubles
Career record6-4 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 164 (30 September 2024)
Current rankingNo. 164 (30 September 2024)
Last updated on: 05 October 2024.

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

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

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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

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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

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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

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Davis Cup

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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

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Singles: 10 (3–7)

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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 United States Austin Smith 1–6, 2–6
Loss 0–2 Oct 2016 Israel F14, Meitar Futures Hard Russia Roman Safiullin 0–6, 4–6
Loss 0–3 Nov 2016 Greece F9, Heraklion Futures Hard Spain Carlos Gómez-Herrera 2–6, 2–6
Loss 0–4 Aug 2019 M25, Roehampton, United Kingdom World Tennis Tour Hard United States Eric Quigley 6–4, 3–6, 2–6
Loss 0–5 Jul 2021 M25, Belgrade, Serbia World Tennis Tour Clay Dominican Republic Nick Hardt 6–3, 3–6, 3–6
Win 1–5 May 2022 M15, Akko, Israel World Tennis Tour Hard Israel Ben Patael 7–5, 6–2
Win 2–5 May 2022 M25, Netanya, Israel World Tennis Tour Hard Israel Kyle Seelig 6–1, 6–2
Win 3–5 Oct 2022 M25, Afula, Israel World Tennis Tour Hard Poland Filip Peliwo 7–6(7–4), 6–3
Loss 3–6 Nov 2022 M25, Heraklion, Greece World Tennis Tour Hard France Térence Atmane 3–6, 6–2, 4–6
Loss 3–7 May 2023 M25, Gurb, Spain World Tennis Tour Clay Spain David Jordà Sanchis 3–6, 1–6

Doubles: 29 (19-10)

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

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Daniel Cukierman | Overview | Tennis". ATP Tour.
  2. ^ Viva Sarah Press (January 9, 2020). "Off Court Advantage: Turning Athletes Into Star Investors"
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Daniel Cukierman - Men's Tennis". USC Athletics.
  4. ^ a b c "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. ^ a b "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. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ a b "Cukierman Captures Singles And Doubles Titles At Sherwood Cup". USC Athletics. January 20, 2020.
  15. ^ a b c d e f "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. ^ a b c d "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.
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