Eyal Ran

 ( 1972 Births ) 

In August 1993 he upset Jonas Svensson of Sweden, ranked # 37 in the world, in Long Island, New York, 6–1, 6–3.

After playing at the Australian Open in 1996 and 1997 in the singles competition (he lost in the 2nd round both years), Ran played in his first doubles Grand Slam in 1999, reaching the 2nd round at the French Open (he lost in the first round at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open).

The following year, he played doubles in all four Grand Slam events, reaching the 2nd round at Wimbledon, but losing in the first round of the other three tournaments. In 2000 he won a clay court doubles tournament in Bucharest with Alberto Martin. In 2001, Ran reached the 2nd round at the Australian Open, but lost in the first round of the French Open and Wimbledon (with partner Noam Behr).

He often played Challengers and qualifying tournaments for major events.

Israel (ranked 8th in the Davis Cup standings, with 5,394 points) hosted heavily favored Russia (which won in both 2002 and 2006, and was the top-ranked country in Davis Cup standings, with 27,897 points) in a Davis Cup quarterfinal tie in July 2009, on indoor hard courts at the Nokia Arena in Tel Aviv. "Levy wins to give Israel shock lead," Hindustan Times, 10 July 2009. Retrieved 11 July 2009 Israel was represented by Dudi Sela, Andy Ram, Jonathan Erlich, and Harel Levy. Russia's lineup consisted of Marat Safin (# 24 in the world; former world # 1), Igor Andreev (26), Igor Kunitsyn (35), and Mikhail Youzhny (44; former world # 8). "Nadal left off Spain team for Davis Cup", Associated Press, 30 June 2009, accessed 30 June 2009 The stage was set by Safin, who prior to the tie told the press: "With all due respect, Israel was lucky to get to the quarterfinals." The Israeli team's response was to beat the Russian team in each of their first three matches, thereby winning the tie. Levy, world # 210, beat Russia's top player, Andreev, world # 24, 6–4, 6–2, 4–6, 6–2 in the opening match. Sela (# 33) followed by beating Russian Youzhny 3–6, 6–1, 6–0, 7–5. Ran likened his players to two on court, saying: "I felt as if I had two F-16s out there today, they played amazingly well." The 10,500 spectators were the largest crowd ever for a tennis match in Israel. Lewis, Ori, "Levy and Sela win to stun Russia in Tel Aviv," Reuters, 10 July 2009. Retrieved 10 July 2009 The next day Ram and Erlich beat Safin and Kunitsyn 6–3, 6–4, 6–7⁽³⁾, 4–6, 6–4 in front of a boisterous crowd of over 10,000. Even the Saudi Gazette described the doubles match as a "thrilling" win. "Russia out, US hangs on in Davis Cup", Saudi Gazette, 12 July 2009, 19 Rajab 1430. Retrieved 12 July 2009 With the tie clinched for Israel, the reverse singles rubbers were "Dead rubber", and instead of best-of-five matches, best-of-three sets were played, with the outcomes of little to no importance. Israel wrapped up a 4–1 victory over Russia, as Levy defeated Kunitsyn 6–4, 4–6, 7–6⁽²⁾, while Sela retired with a wrist injury while down 3–4 in the first set against Andreev. "Israel completes Davis Cup win over Russia," Miami Herald, 7/12/09, accessed 12 July 2009 In the subsequent Spain defeated Israel in Israel's first appearance in the Davis Cup semifinals. In 2010, Israel lost to Chile in the first round, and to Austria in the playoffs, participated in the Europe/Africa Group I in 2011. "Israel's Davis Cup Biography," daviscup.com. Retrieved 25 September 2010

In 2017, after 12 years at the helm, he retired as captain. Ran said: "I’m happy I guided the team to the Davis Cup semifinals and for the privilege I had of coaching players like Andy Ram, Yoni Erlich, Noam Okun, Amir Hadad, Harel Levy, Amir Weintraub and Dudi Sela to great achievements... I’m also happy I had the privilege of coaching Israel’s future team: Yshai Oliel, Edan Leshem, Daniel Cukierman, Ben Patael and Mor Bulis...."

• List of select Jewish tennis players

• Jews in Sports bio