Djokovic and Federer the GOATs, Swiatek the youngest: the 11 players to have achieved the Sunshine Double
Iga Swiatek and Carlos Alcaraz can both achieve the Sunshine Double if they win in Miami
It’s a feat that isn’t within everyone’s grasp. Few players can claim to have achieved one of the toughest feats on the tennis planet: the Sunshine Double.
It consists of winning the Indian Wells and Miami titles in the same season. Only 11 players have ever been able to do this, two of them more than once – Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.
With the Miami Open in full swing, Tennis Majors brings you a list of the 11 male and female players who have made the Sunshine Double.
Jim Courier (1991)
American Jim Courier was the first player to win the famous Sunshine Double, in 1991. Then ranked 26th in the world before arriving in California, he beat Guy Forget in five sets in the final of the Indian Wells Masters 1000, before doing the double a few days later in the Miami final, where he defeated David Wheaton.
It was an achievement that launched his career. A few months later, Courier won his first Grand Slam title at Roland-Garros, beating Andre Agassi in the final. He also reached the final of the US Open, where he lost to Stefan Edberg.
Michael Chang (1992)
One year after Jim Courier’s feat, another American did it again. Michael Chang, 20, became the second player in history to complete the Sunshine Double. While he managed to win Indian Wells by taking advantage of a favourable draw (he didn’t face a single member of the Top 20), he subsequently confirmed that this was no accident by winning the Miami Masters 1000 after beating Pete Sampras and Courier, before dominating Alberto Mancini in the final.
Pete Sampras (1994)
World No 1 and winner of the last three Grand Slam tournaments, Pete Sampras was one of the big favourites going into the 1994 American tour. And the American didn’t disappoint, far from it. He reached the final of the Indian Wells tournament, losing just one set on the way, in the semi-final to Edberg. Down two sets to one in the final against Petr Korda, Sampras found the resources to turn things around and claim victory.
A few days later in Miami, he became the third player in history to complete the Sunshine Double after a three-set victory over arch-rival Andre Agassi in the final. He went on to win both tournaments again, but never in the same year.
Steffi Graf (1994, 1996)
While three men had already achieved the Sunshine Double, no woman had managed it until Steffi Graf, the undisputed world No 1, corrected this statistic. The German even went one better, achieving this fabulous feat on two occasions, a first in the history of tennnis.
In 1994, Graf beat Amanda Coetzer in the Indian Wells final and Natasha Zvereva in the Miami Open final. In 1996, the German thus became the first player to win the Sunshine Double twice. She beat Conchita Martinez in the final of the California tournament and Chanda Rubin in Florida.
Marcelo Rios (1998)
In 1998, Marcelo Rios became the first non-American man to win the Sunshine Double. The Chilean beat Greg Rusedski in the final at Indian Wells before dominating legend Agassi in the Miami Open final – making him the only player in history to have won the Sunshine Double without ever having won a Grand Slam tournament.
Andre Agassi (2001)
One of the greatest American players of all time joined three of his compatriots by completing the Sunshine Double. After several years of coming close, Andre Agassi finally managed to win the Indian Wells Masters 1000 and the Miami Open in 2001, beating Lleyton Hewitt in the semi-finals and Pete Sampras in the final to claim his first Indian Wells title. He then beat Jan-Michael Gambill in the Miami Open final to complete the Sunshine Double.
Roger Federer (2005, 2006, 2017)
Roger Federer, one of the greatest players in the history of tennis, has pushed the boundaries of the game throughout his career. The Swiss became the first man player to win the Sunshine Double twice, in 2005 and 2006, when he was the world No 1. He then waited 11 years before repeating the feat in 2017.
In 2005, he beat Lleyton Hewitt at Indian Wells and Rafael Nadal in the Miami Open final. The following year, Federer became the first player to win back-to-back Sunshine Doubles. He dominated James Blake in California and Ivan Ljubicic in Florida.
Then in 2017, at the age of 35, the Swiss defeated compatriot Stan Wawrinka in the Indian Wells final and Rafael Nadal in the Miami Open final.
Kim Clijsters (2005)
After a 2004 disrupted by a wrist injury, Kim Clijsters made her return to competition in 2005 outside the Top 100. After wrist surgery, the Belgian struggled to get back to her best. But during the US swing, she finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel.
To everyone’s surprise, she pulled off the feat of winning Indian Wells and Miami, becoming the first woman since Steffi Graf to make the Sunshine Double. She beat Lindsay Davenport in the California final and Maria Sharapova in the Miami Open final.
Novak Djokovic (2011, 2014, 2015, 2016)
Novak Djokovic holds almost all the major records in men’s tennis. The Serb is the only player in history to have achieved the Sunshine Double four times, and the only one to have done so three times in a row.
In 2011, after winning the Australian Open, Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal in the final of the Masters 1000 Indian Wells Open and the Miami Open. Three years later, he defeated Roger Federer in the final of the California tournament and Rafael Nadal in the final of the Florida tournament.
In 2015, Djokovic once again dominated Swiss Roger Federer in the final at Indian Wells, then Andy Murray a few days later in the final of the Miami Open.
He completed an historic quadruple the following year, in 2016, beating Canada’s Milos Raonic in the final at Indian Wells and Kei Nishikori in Miami. He is the last male player to complete the Sunshine Double.
Victoria Azarenka (2016)
Victoria Azarenka is the tenth player to complete the Sunshine Double. She joins Steffi Graf and Kim Clijsters in women’s tennis. The Belarusian did it in 2016, beating Serena Williams in the final of the Indian Wells tournament, and Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final of the Miami Open.
Iga Swiatek (2022)
Iga Swiatek achieved the Sunshine Double in 2022, at the age of 20 years and 10 months, becoming the youngest player in history to achieve this feat. She defeated Maria Sakkari in the final of the WTA 1000 Indian Wells and Naomi Osaka in the final of the Miami Open.
In 2024, she won the Indian Wells tournament for the second time in her career. In Miami, she will attempt to complete a historic double.
