ANALYSIS | The Elusive Sunshine Double of Indian Wells and Miami Open: Is it Mission Impossible?

March is a pivotal month in the tennis calendar, marking the much-anticipated Sunshine Double, a grueling test of endurance and skill featuring two ATP Masters 1000 events in the United States—Indian Wells in California and the Miami Open in Florida. These prestigious tournaments, played over a span of 12 days, present a formidable challenge, and history has shown that completing the double is an extraordinary achievement.

Only 11 players—seven men and four women—have managed to conquer both titles in the same year. The feat was first accomplished in the 1990s, with Jim Courier (1991), Michael Chang (1992), Pete Sampras (1994), Marcelo Ríos (1998), and Steffi Graf (1994, 1996) etching their names in history. The 2000s saw just three players achieve the double: Andre Agassi (2001), Kim Clijsters (2005), and Roger Federer, who accomplished it in back-to-back years (2005 and 2006).

Federer, however, was not done. Over a decade later, in 2017, he once again dominated both events, becoming the most recent male player to complete the double. Novak Djokovic stands alone as the most successful player in Sunshine Double history, having won it an astonishing four times (2011, 2014, 2015, and 2016), including three consecutive triumphs.

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On the women's side, Victoria Azarenka was the sole player to achieve the feat in the 2010s, claiming both titles in 2016. Then, in 2022, Iga Świątek became the first and only player of the current decade to complete the Sunshine Double, also making history as the first to do so since the Miami Open moved to its new venue at Hard Rock Stadium in 2019.

For 2024, the possibility of a new name joining this elite list has already been ruled out, as Indian Wells champions Jack Draper and Mirra Andreeva have both been eliminated from the Miami Open.

Players Who Have Achieved the Sunshine Double

Men’s Champions

• Jim Courier (1991)
• Michael Chang (1992)
• Pete Sampras (1994)
• Marcelo Ríos (1998)
• Andre Agassi (2001)
• Roger Federer (2005, 2006, 2017)
• Novak Djokovic (2011, 2014, 2015, 2016)

Women’s Champions

• Steffi Graf (1994, 1996)
• Kim Clijsters (2005)
• Victoria Azarenka (2016)
• Iga Świątek (2022)

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