MALIBU, Calif. — Brazilian standout Gustavo Ribeiro de Almeida has signed with the Pepperdine men's tennis team ahead of the 2025-26 season, Director of Tennis Adam Schaechterle announced Tuesday.

Ribeiro de Almeida boasts a Universal Tennis Rating of 13.47 — the second-highest of any incoming freshman in college tennis this year. He recently achieved his career-high rankings of No. 685 in singles and No. 743 in doubles within the last month. The right-hander will be the seventh Brazilian-born player in the history of the program.

Hailing from Guarapuava, Brazil, Ribeiro de Almeida has competed in eight Challenger-level events in singles, plus two more in doubles. On the ITF tour circuit, he's made the quarterfinals eight times, the semifinals three times and the finals twice (M15 Lujan and M25 Sao Paulo). 

In juniors, Ribeiro de Almeida was ranked as high as No. 41 in the world. Playing alongside current world No. 52 Jao Fonseca, he helped Brazil make history by winning its first-ever Davis Cup Juniors Title in 2022. He competed in three of the four junior grand slams in 2024: Junior Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open. His best result in the Junior Grand Slam circuit was making the round of 16 at Junior Wimbledon in 2024. Before that, he made his Junior Grand Slam debut at Roland Garros in 2022. All told, Ribeiro de Almeida won nine juniors titles (four in singles, five in doubles).

Ribeiro de Almeida will join a program that went 17-11, beat two top-10 teams and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in five seasons in 2025. Six players from last year's lineup, including All-WCC First Team Singles selections Maxi Homberg and Edward Winter, will return in 2025-26. A full fall schedule is forthcoming.

Follow: To stay up-to-date on the latest Pepperdine men's tennis news, follow the Waves on social media @PepperdineMTEN