Tomas Behrend
Encyclopedia
Tomas Ugo Behrend is a former professional German Brazil
ian-born tennis
player. His highest ATP singles ranking was 74th, which he reached on October 3, 2005. His career high in doubles was at 43 set at October 15, 2007.
Behrend retired in 2007 and said he regrets never having the opportunity to have played Andre Agassi
before he retired. Behrend has opened up a tennis academy in his hometown of Alsdorf
called ToBe.
and raised in Novo Hamburgo
where his father Claudio who was a volleyball player owns and runs a graphic and printing company. He started playing tennis at the age of five and in addition to playing tennis as a youngster he played football, handball, volleyball and swimming before focusing on tennis. Behrend has three brothers and is a fan of the Gremio and Borussia Dortmund
football teams.
In 1991 Behrend went to Germany at the age of 17 to play club tennis, through his German background he was able obtain a German passport which made it easier for travel and financially more lucrative for him to represent Germany than Brazil, at time as a Brazilian player, he would have taxed at 45% of his prize money.
who he defeated twice when Moya was in the top 10, one of them in his country of birth and the other win in his adopted country and Juan Carlos Ferrero
who he defeated at Palermo
in 2005 which was where he had his best tournament result on the ATP tour reaching the semi-finals losing to Filippo Volandri
.
2003 was Behrend's best year in singles and there were calls for Behrend to play Davis Cup
for Brazil, but this avenue was closed when Behrend was selected to play for Germany at the age of 28 against Belarus
. He lost his only Davis Cup
match to Max Mirnyi
5-7 2-6 7-6(6) 6-2 6-4 7-5. In spite of the loss Behrend said " To represent a nation in the World Group of Davis Cup is the dream for any player and at 28, perhaps this was my last chance".
On the subject of representing Germany and not Brazil. Behrend believes that there was no opportunity for him at the start of his career to become a professional in Brazil and in Germany he was able to receive financial assistance. He had always wanted to be called up by Brazil, but was upset at the politics behind the scenes, when it came to the fourth player, given that Gustavo Kuerten
, Fernando Meligeni
and Flávio Saretta
were all fit, then they were selected and the often the fourth member was ranked behind him in the rankings, therefore "I am a Brazilian with a German passport".
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Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian-born tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
player. His highest ATP singles ranking was 74th, which he reached on October 3, 2005. His career high in doubles was at 43 set at October 15, 2007.
Behrend retired in 2007 and said he regrets never having the opportunity to have played Andre Agassi
Andre Agassi
Andre Kirk Agassi is a retired American professional tennis player and former world no. 1. Generally considered by critics and fellow players to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Agassi has been called the best service returner in the history of the game...
before he retired. Behrend has opened up a tennis academy in his hometown of Alsdorf
Alsdorf
This article is about the town Alsdorf in NRW Germany, for other meanings of Alsdorf you can have a look at Alsdorf .Alsdorf is a municipality in the district of Aachen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Until the 21st century Alsdorf was a mining area, but by now many service companies have...
called ToBe.
Early Life and change of nationality
Behrend is of German descent and was born in Porto AlegrePorto Alegre
Porto Alegre is the tenth most populous municipality in Brazil, with 1,409,939 inhabitants, and the centre of Brazil's fourth largest metropolitan area . It is also the capital city of the southernmost Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. The city is the southernmost capital city of a Brazilian...
and raised in Novo Hamburgo
Novo Hamburgo
Novo Hamburgo is a city in the southernmost Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul.Its population is 237,044 . The city covers an area of 217 square kilometers, and the average temperature is 19°C, a mild one for the region...
where his father Claudio who was a volleyball player owns and runs a graphic and printing company. He started playing tennis at the age of five and in addition to playing tennis as a youngster he played football, handball, volleyball and swimming before focusing on tennis. Behrend has three brothers and is a fan of the Gremio and Borussia Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund
Ballspielverein Borussia Dortmund, commonly BVB, are a German sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. Dortmund are one of the most successful clubs in German football history. Borussia Dortmund play in the Bundesliga, the top league of German football...
football teams.
In 1991 Behrend went to Germany at the age of 17 to play club tennis, through his German background he was able obtain a German passport which made it easier for travel and financially more lucrative for him to represent Germany than Brazil, at time as a Brazilian player, he would have taxed at 45% of his prize money.
Career
Behrend won his first Futures and Challenger title in 1998, while he did not have great success on the main tour. He managed to hold both positive head to head records against two former world number ones Carlos MoyáCarlos Moyá
Carlos Moya Llompart is a retired former world no. 1 tennis player from Spain. He was the French Open singles champion in 1998 and was the singles runner-up at the 1997 Australian Open. In 2004, he helped his country win the Davis Cup. He currently resides in Switzerland...
who he defeated twice when Moya was in the top 10, one of them in his country of birth and the other win in his adopted country and Juan Carlos Ferrero
Juan Carlos Ferrero
Juan Carlos Ferrero Donat is a professional tennis player, and a former world no. 1 player, from Spain. He captured the men's singles title at the 2003 French Open, and in September of that year, he became the 21st player to hold the world no. 1 ranking. He was also the runner-up at the 2002...
who he defeated at Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
in 2005 which was where he had his best tournament result on the ATP tour reaching the semi-finals losing to Filippo Volandri
Filippo Volandri
Filippo Volandri is an Italian professional male tennis player. Volandri is a right-handed player who reached a career-high ranking of 25 on July 23, 2007. He turned pro in 1997, and as of January 2006, had earned over $1,300,000 in prize money...
.
2003 was Behrend's best year in singles and there were calls for Behrend to play Davis Cup
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...
for Brazil, but this avenue was closed when Behrend was selected to play for Germany at the age of 28 against Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
. He lost his only Davis Cup
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...
match to Max Mirnyi
Max Mirnyi
Max Mirnyi is a professional tennis player from Belarus.Today Mirnyi is a doubles specialist, but he also enjoyed a good singles career, finishing in the top 50 in the world for seven straight years, as well as representing Belarus in Davis Cup competition since April 1994, where he holds a...
5-7 2-6 7-6(6) 6-2 6-4 7-5. In spite of the loss Behrend said " To represent a nation in the World Group of Davis Cup is the dream for any player and at 28, perhaps this was my last chance".
On the subject of representing Germany and not Brazil. Behrend believes that there was no opportunity for him at the start of his career to become a professional in Brazil and in Germany he was able to receive financial assistance. He had always wanted to be called up by Brazil, but was upset at the politics behind the scenes, when it came to the fourth player, given that Gustavo Kuerten
Gustavo Kuerten
Gustavo Kuerten is a retired former World No. 1 tennis player from Brazil. He won the French Open three times between 1997 and 2001, and was the Tennis Masters Cup champion in 2000...
, Fernando Meligeni
Fernando Meligeni
Fernando Ariel Meligeni , nicknamed Fininho is a former professional tennis player from Brazil....
and Flávio Saretta
Flávio Saretta
Flávio Saretta Filho is a professional tennis player from Brazil who turned professional in 1998....
were all fit, then they were selected and the often the fourth member was ranked behind him in the rankings, therefore "I am a Brazilian with a German passport".
Singles titles
| Legend (Singles) |
| Grand Slam (0) |
| ATP Masters Series (0) |
| ATP Tour (0) |
| Challengers (7) |
| Futures (1) |
| No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score |
| 1. | 1998 |  Germany F13 |
Clay |  Mehdi Tahiri |
6–3, 7–6 |
| 2. | 1998 |  BudvaBudva Budva is a coastal town in Montenegro. It has around 15,000 inhabitants, and it is the centre of municipality... |
Clay |  Fredrik JonssonFredrik Jonsson Fredrik Jonsson is a tennis player from Sweden, who turned professional in 1996. He has not won a single title during his career so far. The right-hander reached his highest individual ranking on the ATP Tour on 17 July 2000, when he became the number 108 of the world... |
3–6, 6–3, 6–2 |
| 3. | 2002 |  SofiaSofia Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated... |
Clay |  Werner EschauerWerner Eschauer Werner Eschauer is a now inactive Austrian professional tennis player.In his first 12 years as a pro, Eschauer found little success, winning just 7 ATP-level matches and cracking the top-100 for just a few weeks in late 2003, peaking at #96.... |
6–0, 6–3 |
| 4. | 2003 |  San RemoLCF Sanremo Tennis Cup The Sanremo Tennis Cup is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor red clay courts. It is currently part of the Association of Tennis Professionals Challenger Tour. It is held annually at the Circolo Tennis Sanremo in Sanremo, Italy, since 2002.... |
Clay | Werner Eschauer Werner Eschauer Werner Eschauer is a now inactive Austrian professional tennis player.In his first 12 years as a pro, Eschauer found little success, winning just 7 ATP-level matches and cracking the top-100 for just a few weeks in late 2003, peaking at #96.... |
6–4, 6–2 |
| 5. | 2003 | Weiden Weiden in der Oberpfalz Weiden in der Oberpfalz is a district-free city in Bavaria, Germany. It is located 100 km east of Nuremberg and 35 km west of the Czech border. A branch of the German Army's NCO Academy is located here... |
Clay | Björn Phau Bjorn Phau Björn Phau is a German tennis player and the son of a German mother and an Indonesian father. He reached a singles ranking of 59 in the world on 19 June 2006. He defeated Andre Agassi 7–5, 7–5 at the 2006 Dubai Tennis Championships. In an interview, Agassi cited Phau as one of the quickest tennis... |
2–6, 6–4, 6–1 |
| 6. | 2004 |  Kish Island |
Clay |  Mathieu MontcourtMathieu Montcourt Mathieu Montcourt was a professional French tennis player. At the 2006, 2007, and 2009 French Opens, he lost in the second round, to Lleyton Hewitt, Jarkko Nieminen, and Radek Štěpánek respectively.- Career :... |
7–6(3), 6–1 |
| 7. | 2005 |  SantiagoSantiago, Chile Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level... |
Clay | Adrián García Adrián García Adrián Alonso García Sobarzo is a Chilean tennis player.García was born in Concepción, Chile. On September 13, 2004, he achieved a career-high singles ranking of 103.-Source:* ATP Tour profile for... |
7–6(3), 4–6, 6–2 |
| 8. | 2005 | Olbia Olbia Olbia is a town and comune of 56,231 inhabitants in northeastern Sardinia , in the Gallura sub-region. Called Olbia in the Roman age, Civita in the Middle Ages and Terranova Pausania before the 1940s, Olbia was again the official name of the town after the period of Fascism.-Geography:It is the... |
Clay | Alessio di Mauro Alessio di Mauro Alessio di Mauro is an Italian tennis player. In Buenos Aires, he reached his first final of his career, where Argentine Juan Mónaco defeated di Mauro to win his first career title, 6–1, 6–2; on February 26, 2007. Propelled by this run, the left-hander reached his career high ranking of No... |
6–4, 7–6(3) |
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