Tennis star Carlos Alcaraz has revealed that he is taking inspiration from UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria ahead of the 2025 Australian Open in Melbourne.
The tournament is the first Grand Slam event of the new year, and Spain's Alcaraz, who hasn't been past the quarterfinal stage in Australia, is hoping to go deeper into the 2025 tournament as he bids to complete a major career milestone.
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The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tournament Alcaraz has not won, with the world number three having captured the US Open in 2022, Wimbledon in 2023, and both the French Open and Wimbledon last year.
Victory in Melbourne would see Alcaraz complete the full set of Grand Slam titles before his 22nd birthday and become the youngest male player in history to compete a "career Grand Slam" of all four titles.
Speaking at a press conference ahead of the tournament, Alcaraz revealed that he has taken inspiration from the performances of fellow countryman Topuria, who rose from undefeated prospect to become the undisputed UFC featherweight champion and one of the top pound-for-pound athletes in the UFC.
"We always have moments of doubt and difficulties," said Alcaraz.
"But Topuria's confidence in every fight inspired me to not have doubts and to know who I am and what I have. He has helped me dust myself off at times."
Topuria has been a breakout star for Spanish MMA since he joined the UFC in 2020. The Georgian-Spanish featherweight competed at both 145 and 155 pounds in the UFC and quickly made a name for himself as he rose through the ranks to earn a shot at then-featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 last February.
Topuria captured the title with a stunning second-round knockout of the long-reigning Australian champion, then followed it up by handing former champion Max Holloway the first knockout loss of his career at UFC 308 in October.
Those two performances earned Topuria "Fighter of the Year" honors on UFC.com, shared with Brazil's light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira, and placed "El Matador" fourth in the UFC's official pound-for-pound rankings.
Topuria, who was born in Germany to Georgian parents, was also awarded the Order of Honor by the President of Georgia, making him a dual citizen of Georgia and Spain.
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That meteoric rise is helping showcase the growth of mixed martial arts in Spain, with UFC president and CEO Dana White keen to take a UFC event to Spain in the near future.
"I want to go to Spain as bad as Spain wants us to come, so we're working on it. We'll get it done," White told reporters after Topuria's win over Holloway at UFC 308.
"There's never been a time where we said we're going to do something and we don't do it. We figure it out, and we'll get it done.
"It's important for me to go to Spain in '25, so we'll figure it out."
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