Aljaž Bedene (born 18 July 1989) is a Slovenian former professional
tennis
Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
player. He was
ranked as high as No. 43 in singles by the
Association of Tennis Professionals
The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) is the governing body of the men's professional tennis circuits – the ATP Tour and the ATP Challenger Tour. It was formed in September 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, and Cliff Drysdale to p ...
(ATP), which he achieved in February 2018. He reached four singles finals on the
ATP Tour
The ATP Tour (known as ATP World Tour between January 2009 and December 2018) is the sole worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) founded in 1990 that replaced the earlier dual Grand Prix ...
as well as the third round at three of the four
Grand Slam tournaments. He also attained his career-high ranking of No. 127 in doubles in October 2013. Between 2015 and 2017, Bedene represented Great Britain after becoming
a naturalised Briton before he returned to represent Slovenia in 2018.
As a junior, Bedene was ranked as high as No. 31 in the world (achieved in 2007) and won eight titles across singles and doubles. As a professional, Bedene made his top 100 debut in 2012 shortly after winning his fourth title on the
ATP Challenger Tour
The ATP Challenger Tour (known until the end of 2008 as the ATP Challenger Series) is a series of international men's professional tennis tournaments. It was founded in 1976 as a replacement for the ILTF Satellite Circuit (founded in 1971) as ...
that year. He has since won a total of 21 singles titles and three doubles titles across both the Challenger Tour and the
ITF Men's World Tennis Tour.
Bedene represented Slovenia after turning professional in 2008. On 31 March 2015, he was granted UK citizenship and began representing Great Britain,
but the
International Tennis Federation rejected his application to represent Great Britain in the
Davis Cup as he had previously played three dead rubbers for Slovenia. After his appeals failed, Bedene switched his representation back to his birth country of Slovenia for the 2018 season.
Early and personal life
Aljaž Bedene was born on 18 July 1989 in
Ljubljana
{{Infobox settlement
, name = Ljubljana
, official_name =
, settlement_type = Capital city
, image_skyline = {{multiple image
, border = infobox
, perrow = 1/2/2/1
, total_widt ...
. 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 and the two met regularly in competition finals. His nickname is Ali or Benke, and he speaks English, Slovenian and Croatian.
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 26 March 2015 and became British no. 2 behind
Andy Murray
Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British former professional tennis player and coach. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professio ...
.
Aljaž has lived in
Welwyn Garden City
Welwyn Garden City ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. It was the second Garden city movement, garden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the first New towns in the United Kingdom, new towns (designated 1948). It is ...
since 2008 with his girlfriend, pop star Kimalie, formerly part of the Slovenian group Foxy Teens. Bedene was based at the Global Tennis Connections Academy in Gosling.
In January 2018 Bedene began representing his birth nation of Slovenia again.
Career
2011: ATP debut
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: Four Challenger titles, top 100 debut
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.
He made his top 100 debut at World No. 83 on 30 July 2012 following his fourth title at the
2012 ATP China Challenger International.
2013: Grand Slam debut
Bedene made his first ATP semifinal appearance at the
Aircel Chennai Open defeating the no. 6 seed
Robin Haase
Robin Haase (; born 6 April 1987) is a Dutch professional tennis player.
He reached his career-high Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP singles ranking of world No. 33 in July 2012 and his highest doubles ranking of world No. 29 in May 2023 ...
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.
At the
Australian Open he played in his first Grand Slam tournament. He lost in the first round to
Benjamin Becker.
2014: First Masters 1000 third round in Miami
On 9 May, it was announced that Bedene had applied for a British passport,
with legal support from the
Lawn Tennis Association
The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) is the national governing body of tennis in Great Britain, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man founded in 1888. The LTA promotes all levels of lawn tennis. The organization believes tennis can provide ...
.
2015: First ATP final, Top 50 debut
Starting the year in
2015 Aircel Chennai Open, Bedene reached the finals by defeating
Lukáš Lacko,
Feliciano López
Feliciano López Díaz-Guerra (; born 20 September 1981) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He achieved his career-high singles ATP rankings, ranking of world No. 12 in March 2015 and doubles ranking of world No. 9 in November 2016. ...
,
Guillermo García López, and
Roberto Bautista Agut in three sets. He lost the final to
Stan Wawrinka in straight sets.
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
The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
,
2011
The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
and
2012
2012 was designated as:
*International Year of Cooperatives
*International Year of Sustainable Energy for All
Events January
*January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins.
* January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
.
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
The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) is the national governing body of tennis in Great Britain, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man founded in 1888. The LTA promotes all levels of lawn tennis. The organization believes tennis can provide ...
who had appealed a rule brought 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.
He made his top 50 debut on 19 October 2015.
2016: First Major third round at the French Open
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.
In March, he split from his coach
James Davidson, and Davis Cup captain
Leon Smith supervised him at the
French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
. Bedene progressed to the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time, where he was beaten by
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Новак Ђоковић, Novak Đoković, separator=" / ", ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at N ...
.
2017: Second Major third round and ATP final
In March, Bedene won the
Irving Tennis Classic, defeating
Mikhail Kukushkin in the final in three sets, 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
Gastão José Ministro Elias (; born 24 November 1990) is a Portuguese professional tennis player, who competes on the ATP Challenger Tour. In October 2016, he reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 57 to become the third highest-ran ...
, also in two sets. Also in April, Bedene reached the
Gazprom Hungarian Open final, where he lost to
Lucas Pouille in two sets.
2018: Third ATP final, Career-high ranking
Bedene, representing Slovenia again, reached the finals of the
Argentina Open in February, defeating
Jiří Veselý,
Albert Ramos Viñolas,
Diego Schwartzman
Diego Sebastián Schwartzman (, ; born 16 August 1992) is an Argentine former professional tennis player. He won four ATP Tour singles titles and reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 8 in October 2020. As a clay court specialist ...
, and
Federico Delbonis before losing to
Dominic Thiem. As a result, he reached a new career-high of World No. 43 in singles on 19 February 2018.
2019: US Open third round
2020: First Australian Open win
2021: Wimbledon third round
Bedene started his 2021 season at the first edition of the
Great Ocean Road Open. Seeded 13th, he reached the third round and lost to fourth seed and eventual champion,
Jannik Sinner. At the
Australian Open, he was defeated in the first round by
Alexander Bublik.
In
Montpellier
Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...
, Bedene upset fifth seed, Jannik Sinner, in the first round. He was eliminated in the second round by
Egor Gerasimov. At the
Dubai Championships, he was beaten in the third round by
Kei Nishikori. He lost in the second round of the
Miami Open to 28th seed Kei Nishikori.
Starting his clay-court season at the
Sardegna Open, Bedene made it to the quarterfinals where he fell to second seed
Taylor Fritz. In
Belgrade
Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
, he beat rising American star,
Sebastian Korda, in the first round in three sets. He was defeated in the second round by third seed and eventual finalist,
Aslan Karatsev, despite having match point at 6–5 in the third set. At the
Italian Open, he was eliminated in the final round of qualifying by
Hugo Dellien. However, due to the withdrawal of
Casper Ruud, Bedene received entry into the main draw as a lucky loser. He was beaten in the first round by
Jan-Lennard Struff. After Rome, he competed at the
Lyon Open. He upset fourth seed,
David Goffin
David Goffin (; born 7 December 1990) is a Belgian professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ATP rankings, ranking of world No. 7, making him the highest ranked male player from Belgium in tennis history. He is also the first ...
, in the second round. He lost in the quarterfinals to Italian rising star
Lorenzo Musetti. Seeded seventh at the first edition of the
Emilia-Romagna Open in
Parma
Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...
, he was defeated in the second round by Italian wildcard and eventual finalist,
Marco Cecchinato. Ranked 56 at the
French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
, he lost in the second round to 10th seed
Diego Schwartzman
Diego Sebastián Schwartzman (, ; born 16 August 1992) is an Argentine former professional tennis player. He won four ATP Tour singles titles and reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 8 in October 2020. As a clay court specialist ...
.
Starting his grass-court season at the
Queen's Club Championships, Bedene was defeated in the first round by American
Frances Tiafoe. In
Eastbourne
Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...
, he was eliminated in the first round by
Márton Fucsovics in three sets. Ranked 64 at
Wimbledon, he reached the third round for a second time in his career at this Major where he lost to seventh seed and eventual finalist,
Matteo Berrettini.
Seeded fifth at the
Croatia Open, Bedene lost in the first round to Marco Cecchinato.
2022: Third French Open third round, retirement
At the
2022 French Open
The 2022 French Open was a Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was held at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 22 May to 5 June 2022, comprising singles, doubles and mixed doubles play. J ...
he used his protected ranking after coming back from an eight-month hiatus and reached the third round for the third time in his career at this Grand Slam. He lost to top seed
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Новак Ђоковић, Novak Đoković, separator=" / ", ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at N ...
.
He announced that he would retire at the end of the season after the Slovenia's Davis Cup tie to become a
football agent.
Performance timelines
Singles
Doubles
ATP career finals
Singles: 4 (4 runner-ups)
Challenger and Futures Finals
Singles: 27 (21–6)
Doubles: 7 (3–4)
Wins over top 10 players
Davis Cup
Singles performances (9–1)
Doubles performances (2–2)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bedene, Aljaz
Slovenian male tennis players
British male tennis players
Living people
1989 births
Tennis players from Ljubljana
Slovenian twins
Slovenian emigrants to the United Kingdom
Tennis players from London
Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom
21st-century Slovenian sportsmen
Naturalised tennis players
21st-century British sportsmen