Aljaž Bedene
Aljaž Bedene (born 18 July 1989) is a professional tennis player from Slovenia. He was naturalised British and played with this nationality from 2015 to 2017, returning to represent Slovenia in 2018.
Country (sports) | Slovenia (2008–15, 2018–) Great Britain (2015–2017) |
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Residence | Welwyn Garden City, UK |
Born | Ljubljana, SR Slovenia, SFR Yugoslavia | 18 July 1989
Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) |
Turned pro | 2008 |
Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) |
Coach | Markus Wislsperger |
Prize money | $4,260,726 |
Singles | |
Career record | 123–136 (47.5%) |
Career titles | 0 |
Highest ranking | No. 43 (19 February 2018) |
Current ranking | No. 58 (2 February 2021) |
Grand Slam Singles results | |
Australian Open | 2R (2020) |
French Open | 3R (2016, 2020) |
Wimbledon | 3R (2017) |
US Open | 3R (2019) |
Doubles | |
Career record | 19–42 (31.1%) |
Career titles | 0 1 Challenger, 2 Futures |
Highest ranking | No. 127 (7 October 2013) |
Current ranking | No. 384 (2 February 2021) |
Grand Slam Doubles results | |
Australian Open | 1R (2016, 2019, 2020) |
French Open | 2R (2013, 2020) |
Wimbledon | 1R (2013, 2015) |
US Open | 1R (2015) |
Last updated on: 5 February 2021. |
He has won five Futures and 14 Challenger singles titles. In doubles he has won one Challenger title and two Futures titles. His highest ranking is No. 43 in singles (achieved on 19 February 2018) and No. 127 in doubles (achieved on 7 October 2013).
He represented Slovenia when he turned pro in 2008. On 31 March 2015, Bedene was granted UK citizenship and represented Great Britain,[1] but the International Tennis Federation has rejected his application to represent Great Britain in the Davis Cup as he had previously played three dead rubbers for Slovenia.[2][3] After his appeals failed, Bedene switched his representation back to his birth country of Slovenia for the 2018 season.[4]
Early and personal life
Bedene's father, Branko, is a dental industry worker and his mother, Darlen, works for the Ministry of Defence. Aljaž and his younger twin brother, Andraž used to compete for Slovenia’s top tennis honours. The two met regularly in competition finals. His nickname is Ali or Benke, and he speaks English, Slovene and Serbian. Andraž Bedene is a former ATP tour player.[5]
In 2008, Aljaž made the decision to pursue his tennis career in the UK because he felt it was stagnating under the limitations he encountered in Slovenia. He ended a seven-year wait to become a British citizen on 31 March 2015 and became British no. 2 behind Andy Murray.
Aljaž has lived in Welwyn Garden City since 2008 with his girlfriend, pop star Kimalie, formerly part of the Slovenian group Foxy Teens. Bedene is based at the Global Tennis Connections Academy in Gosling.[6] [7]
Career
2011
Not counting the Davis Cup competition, he competed in his first ATP tournament at Erste Bank Open in Vienna, Austria. He reached the second round where he lost in three sets against Tommy Haas.
2012
Bedene made his first ATP quarterfinal appearance at the Erste Bank Open. In the quarterfinal he played against no. 2 seed Janko Tipsarević and lost after retiring in the second set.[8]
2013
Bedene made his first ATP semifinal appearance at the Aircel Chennai Open defeating the no. 6 seed Robin Haase in the second round and the no. 4 seed Stanislas Wawrinka in the quarterfinals. In the semifinal, he lost against no. 2 seed Janko Tipsarević.[9]
At the Australian Open he played in his first Grand Slam tournament. He lost in the first round.
2014
On 9 May, it was announced that Bedene had applied for a British passport,[6] with legal support from the Lawn Tennis Association.[10]
2015
Starting the year in 2015 Aircel Chennai Open, Bedene reached the finals by defeating Lukáš Lacko, Feliciano López, Guillermo García López, and Roberto Bautista Agut in three sets. He lost the final to Stan Wawrinka in straight sets.[11]
On 26 March, Bedene, the world no 83, was granted UK citizenship. Bedene said he planned to appeal against a new rule which prevents players from representing more than one country in Davis Cup. Bedene played three dead rubbers for Slovenia in Davis Cup action in 2010, 2011 and 2012.[1]
On 30 May, the International Tennis Federation announced that Bedene would not be allowed to represent Great Britain in the Davis Cup in response to the Lawn Tennis Association who had appealed against a rule brought in on 1 January, forbidding players from representing two nations in the competition. Bedene's case had been based on his passport application being submitted before the new regulation was implemented. On 17 November, Bedene and representatives from the Lawn Tennis Association flew to Prague to appeal for the right of Bedene to play Davis Cup for Great Britain. However, the Lawn Tennis Association did not submit a 70-page summary of its support for the player until just before the meeting. The International Tennis Federation said the hearing of the appeal would be adjourned until the next board meeting on 20–21 March 2016, so it could consider the document.[12][13][14]
2016
The International Tennis Federation, which was meeting in Moldova on 20 March, considered Bedene's appeal to represent Great Britain in Davis Cup. The International Tennis Federation decided that Bedene was not eligible to represent Great Britain in Davis Cup or the Olympics. Bedene decided to consider seeking a ruling from the Court of Arbitration for Sport.[15]
In March, he split from his coach James Davidson, and Davis Cup captain Leon Smith supervised him at the French Open.[16] Bedene progressed to the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time, where he was beaten by Novak Djokovic.[17]
2017
In March, Bedene won the Irving Tennis Classic, defeating Mikhail Kukushkin in the final in three sets,[18] before going on in April to win the 2017 Verrazzano Open defeating Benoît Paire in two sets in the final and then the 2017 Open Città della Disfida defeating Gastão Elias, also in two sets.[19] Also in April, Bedene reached the Gazprom Hungarian Open final, where he lost to Lucas Pouille in two sets.[20]
2018
In January 2018 Bedene began representing his birth nation of Slovenia again.
Bedene reached the finals of the Argentina Open in February, defeating Jiří Veselý, Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Diego Schwartzman, and Federico Delbonis before losing to Dominic Thiem.
ATP career finals
Singles: 4 (4 runner-ups)
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Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loss | 0–1 | Jan 2015 | Chennai Open, India | 250 Series | Hard | Stan Wawrinka | 4–6, 3–6 |
Loss | 0–2 | Apr 2017 | Hungarian Open, Hungary | 250 Series | Clay | Lucas Pouille | 3–6, 1–6 |
Loss | 0–3 | Feb 2018 | Argentina Open, Argentina | 250 Series | Clay | Dominic Thiem | 2–6, 4–6 |
Loss | 0–4 | Sep 2019 | Moselle Open, France | 250 Series | Hard (i) | Jo-Wilfried Tsonga | 7–6(7–4), 6–7(4–7), 3–6 |
Wins over top 10 players
# | Player | Rank | Event | Surface | Round | Score | AB Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2018 | |||||||
1. | Kevin Anderson | 7 | Rome, Italy | Clay | 2R | 6–4, ret. | 65 |
2020 | |||||||
2. | Stefanos Tsitsipas | 6 | Rotterdam Open, Netherlands | Hard (i) | 2R | 7–5, 6–4 | 52 |
Davis Cup
Singles performances (8–1)
Edition | Round | Date | Against | Surface | Opponent | Win/Loss | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2010 Europe/Africa Zone Group II | 1R | 03-07-2010 | Norway | Hard (I) | Stian Boretti | Win | 6–3, 6–2 |
2011 Europe/Africa Zone Group I | 2R | 07-10-2011 | Italy | Clay | Fabio Fognini | Loss | 2–6, 2–2, ret. |
2012 Europe/Africa Zone Group I | 1R | 02-12-2012 | Denmark | Hard (I) | Thomas Kromann | Win | 6–3, 3–6, 6–4 |
2018 Europe/Africa Zone Group II | 1R | 03-02-2018 | Poland | Hard (I) | Kamil Majchrzak | Win | 6–3, 6–4 |
04-02-2018 | Hubert Hurkacz | Win | 6–4, 7–5 | ||||
PO | 07-04-2018 | Turkey | Clay | Altuğ Çelikbilek | Win | 6–4, 6–2 | |
08-04-2018 | Cem İlkel | Win | 7–6(7–4), 6–2 | ||||
2019 Europe/Africa Zone Group II | 1R | 13-09-2019 | Egypt | Clay | Karim-Mohamed Maamoun | Win | 7–5, 4–1, ret. |
14-09-2019 | Mohamed Safwat | Win | 7–5, 7–5 |
Doubles performances (1–2)
Edition | Round | Date | Against | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Win/Loss | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2018 Europe/Africa Zone Group II | 1R | 04-02-2018 | Poland | Hard (I) | Blaž Rola | Marcin Matkowski Mateusz Kowalczyk |
Loss | 7–5, 6–7(5–7), 4–6 |
PO | 08-04-2018 | Turkey | Clay | Tom Kočevar-Dešman | Cem İlkel Anıl Yüksel |
Loss | 3–6, 6–3, 3–6 | |
2019 Europe/Africa Zone Group II | 1R | 14-09-2019 | Egypt | Clay | Blaž Rola | Sherif Sabry Mohamed Safwat |
Win | 7–5, 6–3 |
Performance timelines
W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | A | P | Z# | PO | G | F-S | SF-B | NMS | NH |
Singles
Current through the 2021 Australian Open.
Tournament | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | SR | W–L | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Grand Slam Tournaments | ||||||||||||||||
Australian Open | A | A | A | Q2 | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 1R | 0 / 9 | 1–9 | |
French Open | A | A | A | Q2 | 1R | A | 1R | 3R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 3R | 0 / 7 | 5–7 | ||
Wimbledon | A | Q2 | A | Q1 | 1R | 1R | 2R | 1R | 3R | 2R | 1R | NH | 0 / 7 | 4–7 | ||
US Open | A | A | A | Q2 | 1R | Q3 | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 3R | 1R | 0 / 7 | 3–7 | ||
Win–Loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–4 | 0–2 | 2–4 | 2–4 | 3–4 | 1–4 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 0–1 | 0 / 30 | 13–30 | |
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 | ||||||||||||||||
Indian Wells Masters | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | Q1 | 1R | A | A | A | NH | 0 / 2 | 0–2 | ||
Miami Masters | A | A | A | A | 2R | 3R | Q1 | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | NH | 0 / 6 | 4–6 | ||
Monte-Carlo Masters | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 2R | A | 2R | 1R | NH | 0 / 3 | 2–3 | ||
Madrid Masters | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | NH | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | ||
Rome Masters | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | 2R | 3R | Q1 | Q2 | 0 / 3 | 3–3 | ||
Canada Masters | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | NH | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | ||
Cincinnati Masters | A | A | A | A | Q1 | A | A | A | A | A | A | 3R | 0 / 1 | 2–1 | ||
Shanghai Masters | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 2R | A | A | NH | 0 / 1 | 1–1 | ||
Paris Masters | A | A | A | A | A | A | 2R | A | A | A | A | 1R | 0 / 2 | 1–2 | ||
Win–Loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–4 | 2–3 | 3–3 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 0 / 18 | 13–18 | |
Career Statistics | ||||||||||||||||
2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | Career | |||
Tournaments | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 18 | 9 | 17 | 19 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 12 | 2 | 139 | ||
Titles / Finals | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 4 | ||
Overall Win–Loss | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 4–4 | 11–18 | 5–9 | 17–17 | 12–19 | 19–18 | 21–19 | 20–17 | 10–12 | 2–2 | 123–137 | ||
Win % | – | 100% | 33% | 50% | 38% | 36% | 50% | 39% | 51% | 52% | 53% | 53% | 66% | 47.31% | ||
Year-end Ranking | 303 | 540 | 165 | 98 | 87 | 145 | 45 | 101 | 49 | 67 | 58 |
References
- "Aljaz Bedene: GB to have second top-100 player in men's rankings". BBC Sport. 26 March 2015.
- "Aljaz Bedene's Great Britain Davis Cup switch blocked by ITF". BBC Sport Tennis. 30 May 2015.
- "Kyle Edmund and Dan Evans strengthen Davis Cup claims". BT Sport. 15 September 2015.
- "Aljaz Bedene to play for Slovenia instead of Great Britain". BBC Sport Tennis. 15 December 2017.
- "Andraz Bedene". ATP World Tour. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
- "Aljaz Bedene to switch his allegiance to Great Britain". BBC Sport. 9 May 2014.
- "Players". Gosling Tennis Academy. Archived from the original on 29 January 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
- "Bedene Makes First ATP Tour Quarter-final in Vienna". globaltennisconnections. 19 October 2012. Archived from the original on 11 April 2013.
- "Janko Tipsarevic into Chennai final". ESPN. 6 January 2013.
- "Aljaz Bedene: GB to have second top-100 player in men's rankings". BBC Sport. 26 March 2014.
- "Aljaz Bedene the Slovenian import poised to strengthen British tennis on the ATP tour". Tennis World USA. 14 January 2015.
- "British No2 Aljaz Bedene made to wait over Davis Cup appeal". The Guardian. 17 November 2015.
- "Aljaz Bedene ruled out of Davis Cup final after appeal hearing adjourned". The Guardian. 17 November 2015.
- "Aljaz Bedene ineligible for Davis Cup final team as decision delayed". BBC Sport. 17 November 2015.
- "Aljaz Bedene loses latest appeal to play in Davis Cup for Great Britain". ESPN. 23 March 2016.
- "Aljaz Bedene left in physical pain by battle to play for Great Britain". The Guardian. 22 May 2016.
- "French Open: Novak Djokovic makes short work of Aljaz Bedene to reach fourth round". The Independent. 28 May 2016.
- Aljaz Bedene captures Irving Tennis Classic title for second time, Star-Telegram, 19 March 2017
- "GB's Aljaz Bedene wins second ATP Challenger tournament in a row". BBC. 16 April 2017.
- "Pouille Storms To Budapest Title | ATP World Tour | Tennis". ATP World Tour. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Aljaž Bedene. |