Aljaz Bedene, the British number two and currently ranked 52 in the world, is not eligible to play Davis Cup for Great Britain despite having lived in the country for a long time. The Brit has an appeal on March 20th in Moldova, where the ITF will discuss his case, before deciding if they will clear Bedene to play for Britain.
The Backstory
The Slovenian-born Brit, who became a citizen in March of 2015, has been banned from playing Davis Cup for his new country, having previously played three dead rubbers for Slovenia. The rule change by the ITF, which stipulates if you have played any kind of Davis Cup rubber for one country, you are not allowed to play Davis Cup for another country when you change nationality, was brought in at the end of 2014 and took effect in January 2015. Bedene and the Lawn Tennis Association insist the paperwork submitted to the ITF before this deadline, the ITF currently state it was not. At an appeal last year, Bedene was refused permission to play Davis Cup for Britain, and the current appeal was due to take place in October, but was suspended until March.
British Davis Cup Captain Leon Smith Hopeful for Successful Appeal
Leon Smith, the British Davis Cup captain, has admitted he would love to be able to select the Brit for his squad. Smith said in an interview with The Guardian, "I am really hopeful he will be qualified at some point. He has been living in the country for such a long time. He deserves to play. To limit him from playing in such a great competition at this stage of his career … well, I just think he really deserves to play. He would be a great team member for us. He’s a really good player, great guy, great attitude. Most importantly he can be a great player for our Davis Cup team."
Britain take on Japan in the first round of the 2016 competion in Birmingham from March 4th to 6th. The team will be aiming to win the tie, as defending champions they will not want to lose this one. As Smith said, "We don’t want to be in a relegation match in September. We want to stay in the World Group, and that’s why, even though it’s not a final, this is a really important match for us. The good thing is that we come with a full-strength team, as do they. They’re actually very strong."
Having Bedene to select from would give Smith three top 100 players to rotate, or use depending on which team they were against in the rounds, as Andy Murray who has recently become a father, may not want to play every round and Smith having more players to choose from can only be a good thing.