The ITF Davis Cup committee has given Dustin Brown approval to play Davis Cup for Germany but denied two players from switching nationalities through its new rule.
The rule, which came into effect this season, prevents players from representing more than one country during their careers in most circumstances. Players and federations can appeal for an exception, with Brown granted one in the first set of decisions since the rule came into effect.
Brown, whose father is from Jamaica and his mother from Germany, was born in Germany and moved to Jamaica, and competed in Davis Cup for the island nation once as a teenager. Having recently broken into the Top 100, he was considered for selection in Germany's first-round tie this season but could not play because of the new requirements.
"The Committee agreed that Brown had met all of the criteria for eligibility under the previous rule," read an ITF statement, adding that the German federation had not filed its application on schedule but that the appeal would not be denied for that reason.
On the contrary, Aljaz Bedene was refused in his attempt to play Davis Cup for Great Britain, as was Maxim Dubarenco for Belarus. Bedene has been a resident in Great Britain for several years and recently became a British citizen, but played three Davis Cup matches for Slovenia as recently as 2012. Dubarenco, who was born in Molodova, competed for the nation 17 times in both singles and doubles as recently as a year ago.
The players can appeal the decision to the ITF Board of Directors.