Behrens was a successful youth player, played four years for the University of California, Los Angeles and was voted into the top selection All-American . His opponent at the time, Pete Sampras, noted as early as 1988 that Behrens might have what it takes to be a professional player, but that he lacks the necessary willpower. He entered the US Open junior tournament in 1988 . In the singles he was defeated in the first round against Nicolás Pereira , in doubles he was defeated on the side of Todd Martin as well in the first round encounter.
He became a professional tennis player in 1993 and initially played on lower-class tournaments in the ATP Satellites series. He achieved a first respectable success in September 1993 when he reached the semi-finals of the Challenger tournament in Singapore alongside Martin Zumpft , who was his double partner for most of the season . The following year he won his first Challenger double title with Kirk Haygarth in Celle . By 1996 he won a total of five double titles on the ATP Challenger Tour with changing partners. His greatest success on the ATP World Tour was winning the 1995 St. Pölten tournament with his compatriot Matt Lucena . The following year both were still in the finals in Atlanta , but were defeated by Christo van Rensburg and David Wheaton in two sets. He reached his highest ranking in the tennis world rankings in 1996 with position 226 in singles and position 72 in doubles.
In the individual, he could never qualify for a Grand Slam tournament. In the doubles competition he reached the round of 16 at Wimbledon in 1997 on the side of Chris Haggard . He had his only appearance in the mixed competition in 1996 with Kimberly Po at the French Open , the first round encounter was only just lost in three sets.
United States
St. Polten
Libor Pimek Byron Talbot