MALIBU, Calif. — The Fab 5 is here.

On Thursday, the Pepperdine men's tennis team officially announced Robin Boeckli, of Switzerland; David Fix, of Germany; Aleksa Pisaric, of Serbia; Lasse Poertner, of Germany; and Hugh Winter, of Australia all signed their national letters of intent.

According to the Tennis Recruiting Network, this five-man recruiting class is one of the most talented groups that head coach Adam Schaechterle has ever brought to Malibu. Earlier this summer, TRN ranked Pepperdine's incoming recruiting class as the second-best in the nation and the top amongst mid-major schools.

"I'm fired up for our Fab 5," Schaechterle said. "I'm honored they chose Pepperdine. These young men have succeeded at the elite levels of junior tennis, they competed in Grand Slams and earned professional rankings at a young age. But, as a coaching staff, what excites us the most is how hungry they are to develop and improve. It's an exciting year for our program!"

All five recruits will help the Waves aim for their fifth-consecutive NCAA Tournament and defend their regular-season West Coast Conference title. Pepperdine is expected to bring back six players from last year's squad, including reigning WCC Freshman of the Year Edward Winter and All-WCC Honorable Mention selection Linus Carlsson Halldin.
 

ROBIN BOECKLI

Joining the team in fall 2024, Robin Boeckli comes to Pepperdine from Zurich, Switzerland. He graduated from Laurel Springs High School in 2024 while competing in tournaments across the globe. Boeckli won a combined seven juniors titles (two in singles and five in doubles) and his career-high ITF juniors ranking was 233rd. 

All seven of his juniors titles came in 2023. In singles, he won the J60 Isa Town and the J100 Burlington singles titles, plus his best doubles wins were the J100 Johannesburg doubles title (with Ty Host) and the J100 Shanghai doubles title (with Nico Hipfl).

Boeckli plans to major in finance. His father, Didier, was a collegiate skier at the University of Denver.

DAVID FIX

A native of Birkenfeld, Germany, David Fix gives the Waves four Germans on the squad, joining junior Maxi Homberg, Poertner and associate head coach Tassilo Schmid. 

Fix was a three-time German national champion (U16 singles, U14 and U18 doubles) and he had a career-high ITF juniors ranking of 51. Fix won two ITF juniors singles titles — a J200 title in Basel and a J60 title in Aarhus — plus he made the doubles semifinals at the 2023 Roland Garros Juniors. 

Fix also has experience playing for the German National Team: He helped the German U16 team place third at the European Championships.

ALEKSA PISARIC

Hailing from Novi Sad, Serbia, Aleksa Pisaric was a four-time Serbian singles national champion, having won the U10, U12, U18 and U18 national titles. Pisaric won four combined ITF juniors titles (two in singles, two in doubles), plus he was ranked as high as 42 in the ITF juniors rankings and eighth in Tennis Europe's U16 standings. 

Pisaric won his two singles titles in 2021: a J5 singles title in Nis and a J4 singles title in Skopje. He won his first juniors doubles title in 2020 at the J5 Budapest with Jan Kobierski, plus he won a J1 Pancevo doubles title with Patrick Schoen in 2022. On the ITF World Tennis Tour, Pisaric has made the semifinals three times and the finals once in doubles. 

LASSE POERTNER

A native of Kirchheim unter Teck, Germany, Lasse Poertner was a U18 German National Champion in singles and doubles. He was ranked as high as 33rd in the ITF juniors rankings and, at one point, was ranked as high as No. 1 in the U18 rankings.

Poertner had a successful juniors doubles career, having won seven ITF juniors doubles titles. His biggest wins include a J300 doubles title in Charleroi-Marcinelle, a J200 doubles title in St. Poelten and a J200 doubles title in Bratislava — all of which he won in 2023. He won four ITF doubles titles in 2022: A J4 title in Frankfurt, a J3 title in Aizkraukle, a J3 title in Trnava and a J3 title in Moenchengladbach.

Earlier this summer, Poertner won a M15 doubles title in Casablanca for his first men's doubles tournament victory. He has also played in Junior Wimbledon and the US Open Junior Championships.

HUGH WINTER

The younger brother of current sophomore Edward Winter, Hugh Winter gives Pepperdine a set of brothers on the roster for the first time since 2011, when Alejandro Moreno and Alfredo Moreno played for the Waves. 

Hailing from Adelaide, Australia, Hugh Winter had a career-high ITF juniors ranking of 60 and won four overall ITF junior titles (two in singles, two in doubles). Winter won a J5 Singapore singles title in 2022 for his first-ever title, then he won a J100 singles title in Lousada in 2023. In doubles, Winter won a J300 doubles title in Kuching this past April, plus a J100 doubles title in Potchefstroom in 2023.

Winter also represented Australia in the 2022 Junior Davis Cup, plus he played in the Junior Australian Open twice.