Taro Daniel

In May, he made his first ATP final at the 2018 Istanbul Open, where he played Tunisian Malek Jaziri, also in his first final. Daniel beat Jaziri 7–6 6–4 to win his first ATP Tournament. After this win Daniel climbed to his career high ranking.

Daniel received direct entry to the main draw of the 2016 Australian Open, losing in the first round to Lukáš Rosol in five sets. In February, he reached the second round of the Open Sud de France before losing to eighth seed Marcos Baghdatis in straight sets. At 2016 Davis Cup World Group first round in Birmingham, Japan faced defending champion Great Britain. He was defeated by world No. 2 Andy Murray in straight sets, and Japan lost 1–3.

After competing in the ATP events of Montpellier and Casablanca, Daniel defeated Filippo Volandri to claim his first ATP Challenger Tour title in Vercelli. He qualified for the 2015 French Open, losing to 32nd seed Fernando Verdasco in the first round. In July, Daniel won the Fürth Challenger, defeating top seeds Blaž Rola and Albert Montañés.

At 2015 Davis Cup World Group Play-offs against Colombia, Daniel won the first Davis Cup match of his career, beating Alejandro Falla in the last tie. His victory completed a come-from-behind victory against Colombia to remain in the World Group for 2016. In October, he qualified for the Valencia Open, and reached the second round, before losing to sixth seed Guillermo García-López. He completed the 2015 season with his third Challenger title in Yokohama, winning over his countryman Go Soeda in the final. He entered the top 100 in the ATP rankings for the first time at world no. 93.

Daniel reached the third qualifying round of the 2014 Australian Open, losing to Thomaz Bellucci. Qualifying for his first ATP tournament, he made the quarterfinals of the Chile Open, after gaining revenge over Bellucci and defeating eighth seed Federico Delbonis. His run was ended by third seed Nicolas Almagro.

At the 2014 Davis Cup World Group quarterfinal against the Czech Republic, Daniel was nominated for the first time for the Japan Davis Cup team. He played the singles rubber, but lost to Lukáš Rosol in a five-setter and Jiří Veselý. Daniel qualified for the 2014 US Open to make his Grand Slam main-draw debut, losing to fifth seed Milos Raonic in the first round. The next week, he reached the final at the Seville Challenger, where he was defeated by top seed Pablo Carreño.

Daniel competed in the Olympics, where he defeated the no.14 seed Jack Sock in straight sets in the 1st Round. Daniel then beat Kyle Edmund of Great Britain before losing to Juan Martín del Potro, despite having won the first set.

Daniel had won a couple of ITF Futures events in Spain and Portugal. On the ATP Challenger Tour, he made the semifinals at the Yokohama in November 2012, and reached his first Challenger final at the Yeongwol in November 2013, where he lost to fourth seed Bradley Klahn in the final. In 2011-2013, Daniel had raised his ATP ranking from world no. 978 to 241.

Taro Daniel (ダニエル 太郎 , Danieru Tarō, born 27 January 1993) is an American-born Japanese professional tennis player who has won five ATP Challenger Tour singles titles and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 64 on 27 August 2018, in part due to winning his first title at the 2018 Istanbul Open on 6 May 2018 as well as strong results throughout the back end of the season.