Daniel looks to be the missing piece for Penn women's tennis

It’s been an unusual journey to Penn for women’s tennis freshman Kana Daniel.

Daniel was born and raised in Japan before she and her family moved to Spain when she was 12. Opting out of the traditional high school experience to instead gain her diploma online, the wunderkind spent a large part of her life traveling around the world to compete on junior circuits and pick up countless accolades as souvenirs along the way.

Tennis was, in many ways, a lifestyle for her — not unlike how it was for today’s pros.

With a knack for the sport in her blood, Daniel picked up the racket at the age of five at the encouragement of her father-turned-coach and started competing solo at seven. Her childhood hitting partner — her now-21 year old brother ­— Taro Daniel, plays on the ATP World Tour.

“At first, I was really passionate about becoming a professional player, but then I started considering playing college tennis,” Kana said. “I felt like I wasn’t the type of person who wanted to work alone —especially in sports. When you play individually, everyone around you only cares about improving themselves.

“Being on a team, everyone cares about each other.”

Now, nearing the end of her rookie year, the tennis prodigy is settling in quite nicely.

In what has otherwise been a disappointing conference season for Penn, the neophyte has surely been one of the few bright spots — a veritable center of gravity for the squad.

“Kana is one of the key pieces of the team,” coach Sanela Kunovac said. “From how prepared she is, how competitive she is, how eager she is, and how much she wants to learn ... she checks all those boxes.”

After beginning the season with five straight singles wins over elite players, Daniel quickly became a permanent fixture at the No. 2 spot. Though her auspicious start has since petered out after a minor wrist injury, Daniel has held her own while consistently being pitted against some of the best players in the Ancient Eight.

“When you put her head-to-head against any Ivy player and any player on our team, you know that at any given time she has a real shot at winning that match,” Kunovac said.”

But it’s at doubles play that she shines.

This year, in a bold and risky move, Kunovac split up last year’s lethal duo of junior Sol Eskenazi and sophomore Sonya Latycheva to distribute the weight and secure the doubles point.

She replaced Latycheva with Daniel. The shoes the freshman had to fill were large.

Not only were Eskenazi and Latycheva unanimously recognized for first-team All Ivy honors last year, but they also concluded their season ranked No. 59 on ITA rankings and with a visit to the NCAA tournament.

But the gamble was successful. Eskenazi and Daniel have prevailed in 11 of their last 12 doubles contests.

“Kana has done a tremendous job at being able to serve well, return well, get to the net and to work with Sol, who moves a lot,” Kunovac said. “It took Sonya a while to get used to that. The fact that Kana just came in and and was able to pick it up from there speaks really highly of her skills.”

What else is to come from Daniel’s play is unknown but promising.

“Her potential is so large,” Kunovac said. “Because she’s such a physical player and she hits every ball really hard, if she improves her serve, and she continues to get fitter and stronger ... I don’t think there will be many players who can keep up with her.”

Meanwhile, as Penn continues searching for answers to correct its troubled Ivy play, it can sleep easy knowing that Kana Daniel will be a mainstay in its lineup for the next three years.

“I’m definitely focusing more on just doing my best in practice and trying to get better every day,” Daniel said, “not worrying too much about the outcome.”

“I know that if I do my best in practice, it will show on the court and in the results.”

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