Britain’s Bedene considers switching allegiances
The British number three Aljaz Bedene has admitted that he still feels Slovenian and is considering switching allegiances ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Bedene first switched allegiances in 2015, with the intention of representing Great Britain in the Davis Cup. However, because Bedene had already represented his country of birth in three dead rubber matches, the International Tennis Federation denied him the opportunity of playing for another nation.
Bedene appealed the decision, but in March an arbitration hearing in London upheld the ITF’s initial decision.
And now Bedene — who divides his time between Slovenia and a house in Welling — has opened the door
to the possibility of playing for his home country again, because he wants to play at an Olympic Games before he retires.
“Well, at the moment I’m representing Great Britain, but I do want to play at the Olympic Games,” Bedene said after his first round victory at the French Open on Monday. “That is the dream for every athlete. [So] I will have to see on that what can be done. But at the moment I am playing for GB.” Bedene also said that he doesn’t completely consider himself to be British. The 27-year-old first moved to Welwyn Garden City in 2008, with his Slovenian popstar partner, Kimalie. He obtained his British citizenship seven years later.
“Well, I have always been known as Slovenian born,” Bedene added. “But I love Britain. I have spent quite a lot of time there and I am enjoying it there. I cannot wait for the grass season to start, although I am not playing at Queen’s. But grass is a British thing.
“I cannot wait for that. But yeah, I still feel Slovenian and British.”
Bedene’s decision to switch alligences from Slovenia to Great Britain was not universally popular, with fellow British player Dan Evans particularly critical of the move.
When news of Bedene’s decision was first made public in 2014 he tweeted: “So a guy is becoming British who has already played for his country. Doesn't quite sound right to me”. And earlier this month, he said “I don't think he really believes he's British either,” when asked how he felt at being overtaken in the British rankings by the player.
And, rather unsurprisingly, Bedene’s decision to stop representing Slovenia was not received well in his homeland, with the judge in his March appeal hearing acknowledging that “the Slovenian Tennis Association have not taken kindly to his defection.”
Bedene’s reveal that he could try to represent Slovenia at Tokyo 2020 rather overshadowed his impressively brisk 6-4 6-0 3-6 6-1 first round win over the American Ryan Harrison. It was the first victory for a British player at this year’s tournament, after Dan Evans lost to the veteran Tommy Robredo on Sunday.
Bedene, who arrived in Paris having won 20 of his last 23 matches, fought back from 3-4 down in the opening set to win nine games in a row against Harrison, ranked ten places above the Brit in the ATP rankings.
Harrison struggled desperately in the sweltering Paris heat and lost the second set in just 18 minutes. He took advantage of some cloud cover in the third to break Bedene early on in the third and gave himself a glimmer of hope, but once again failed himself unable to compete in the fourth.
Bedene will now play the Czech Republic’s Jiri Vesely in the second round, after the 23-year-old upset the American top seed, Jack Sock.
“I played Vesely once and I lost on clay. He has a great serve and doesn’t miss from the back. It’s going to be a good match if I play well,” Bedene said of his next opponent.