While Israel has spent the past year glued to football screens and tracking Deni Avdija’s rise with the Portland Trail Blazers, a quieter revolution has been unfolding on distant courts in Paris, London, and soon New York. It starts in Kfar Saba, with a 17-year-old who still takes driving lessons between Grand Slams.
His name is Dan Brand. And he is suddenly carrying a nation’s old tennis dreams on young shoulders.
Ranked No. 24 in the world among junior boys, Brand has already walked through the players’ entrances at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, competing in both singles and doubles at each. At the French Open, he went out in a bruising first-round singles match, losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 to France’s Mathys Domenc, before reaching the doubles quarterfinals with American partner Safir Azam. At Wimbledon, he pushed on to the second round in both draws.
Next stop: the US Open juniors in Queens, where he will again contest singles and doubles, with the tournament set to begin on September 8.
“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 has seen enough to believe Brand is on course for the junior top 20, pointing to a recent run to the quarterfinals at a men’s Futures event as proof he can already live with professionals. For a country that has been waiting years for a new standard-bearer, that word “hope” carries weight.
A Nation Waiting for Its Next Star
Israeli tennis has known real peaks. Shahar Peer climbed to No. 11 in the world in 2011. Andy Ram and Jonathan Erlich became Grand Slam champions, taking the Australian Open men’s doubles title in 2008 and rising to No. 5 in the rankings.
On the men’s singles side, the benchmark remains Amos Mansdorf. In November 1987, he hit No. 18 in the world, the highest ranking ever achieved by an Israeli man. Today, that same Mansdorf stands on the other side of the net, feeding balls to Brand and shaping his game.
Mansdorf has coached 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, describing a player who is “nice, quiet, low-key, hard-working, and dedicated.”
He likes what he sees under pressure. Brand, he says, “doesn’t panic.” The long-term target? The top 50 on the men’s tour. To get there, Mansdorf wants to arm him with a full professional arsenal: a bigger serve, more power, and the precision to stay with the game’s elite.
“He likes to compete, and does everything well. We are hoping he will get stronger; he still [is] young,” Mansdorf says. The expectation is that Brand will receive a deferment from the IDF and head to “a good US college,” continuing his development there.
From Bored With Jiu-Jitsu to Beating the World No. 8
The story of how Brand even got here borders on accidental.
His father, Shai, a lawyer specializing in torts and a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt who once won two world titles, originally saw his eldest son as a footballer. When Dan’s football coach urged the kids to try other sports, Shai naturally steered him toward the martial art he loved.
Dan’s verdict? Too boring.
He picked up a tennis racquet instead, at school. It did not take long for his coach to spot something unusual. “I trained hundreds of kids; your son is something special,” the coach told Shai, pushing him to enter Dan in a national competition. Shai hesitated. “It was too early,” he thought.
The results kept coming. So did the signs. Shai approached Mansdorf, who later became head coach at the Ra’anana City Tennis Center, a short drive from Kfar Saba. Brand stayed there, in a local club, rather than decamping to a polished European academy. Shai is quietly proud of that choice.
As Brand’s ranking climbed and his passport filled with stamps, the family’s life tilted around the tour calendar. Shai often travels with his son, watching over his health and security. When he cannot be there, he taps into a global network of trusted contacts to keep an eye on Dan.
At home, the teenager is still expected to be just that. He remains enrolled in a regular school, doing most of his studying alone on the road and flying back to sit exams. “My mother is pretty smart and helps a little with math and other subjects,” he admits with a smile. Ruth, his mother, is a speech therapist. Dan is the eldest of three; Nadav is 15, Shira is 10. “Dan’s got his mother’s calm,” Shai says.
That calm has translated into results. In May, Brand hammered 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, went on to win the Wimbledon boys’ title. The scoreline in Belgium still makes Shai beam.
A Teenager on Tour, With a Flag on His Back
When Brand spoke to the Magazine, he had just finished a driving lesson and was home briefly before heading to the ITF Grand Slam Player Development Program at the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, Maryland. Only a handful of Israelis ever get that nod.
Away from the courts, he sounds like any grounded 17-year-old. He likes playing basketball. He hangs out with friends who “treat me the same as before.” He enjoys family time. His classmates are only now processing the fact that the quiet kid they know is appearing on television and making news abroad.
On tour, he has built friendships with peers from around the world. He says he has not faced antisemitic abuse, describing instead players who ask about the situation in Israel and “listen and try to understand.”
On court, he knows exactly who he is and who he wants to be. Brand calls himself “a solid player and a counter-puncher,” but admits he must become more aggressive and add speed to his serve. He describes himself as “a pretty focused, chill guy,” and his coach agrees. Grass is his favorite surface, precisely because it is rare. “It’s not a surface you play on every day,” he says.
His sporting hero is Novak Djokovic. Not for the trophies—though there are 101 ATP singles titles, 24 Grand Slams, and an Olympic gold medal to admire—but for the mindset. “I like his mentality. He is so focused on the match,” Brand says.
Pride, Pressure, and a Choice of Flag
Behind the results lies a more complicated reality. Shai, whose own family history runs through the IDF, does not hide his concerns about the climate since October 7. “After Oct. 7, you can feel people turning their backs on you,” he says.
Dan has reached out to some European players about potential doubles partnerships. None has replied. Players from the United States, South America, and Asia have been more open, more willing to connect with the young Israeli.
Shai remains proud that his son walks into stadiums with the Israeli flag next to his name. He is fully aware of what that can mean. “A kid with a flag [of Israel] is like a target,” he says.
There was another path. Through his maternal grandfather, Brand holds a German passport and had the chance to play for Germany. That route would have meant more financial support, more backing, an easier road.
“He would have gotten more money, but Dan said ‘no,’ – he wants to do it the hard way,” Shai says. For the family, that decision speaks louder than any ranking.
The IDF looms in the background of every Israeli sporting career, and Brand’s is no exception. Shai says his son may receive “ilui” status, a special designation for prodigies that sits above the “sportai mitstayen” tag given to outstanding athletes. The latter often balance desk jobs in the army with training. “Iluim” receive full exemptions, on the understanding that their international careers serve the country in a different way.
Shai, whose father also served as a combat soldier, still believes Dan will wear a uniform at some point.
Backing a Rising Talent
As the US Open approaches, Brand is fine-tuning his game in Maryland under the ITF program. Mansdorf will not be in New York, but Brand will not be alone. Shai will be there. So will Danny Perekalsky, CEO of the Israel Tennis Association, who has become one of the teenager’s most vocal backers.
“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 Brand’s recent highlights: titles in Thailand and Belgium; an impressive showing at the ITF M15 event in Astana, Kazakhstan, from August 3-9, where Brand picked up ATP ranking points by reaching the last 16 and edging fellow Israeli Oren Shimanov 6-3, 4-6, 7-5. “He has really made a big jump in the last six months,” Perekalsky notes.
The ITA has thrown its weight behind him, alongside sponsors such as Rav Bariach, the Israeli security door and locking systems company. Brand also trains at the Wingate Institute in Netanya, Israel’s national hub for physical education and sport. “He is now under their care,” says Shai. “I am just looking out for my son as a father.”
Perekalsky spreads the credit. “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.”
He believes the next step is close. With older juniors aging out of the category, Perekalsky predicts Brand could break into the top 10 by January “if all goes according to plan.”
“Israeli is waiting to have something to be proud of in tennis. And we need more than one Dan,” he says. “We are proud, but it is only a start.”
