From Courier to Federer & Djokovic, reliving ATP No. 1 Club Sunshine Double sweeps
From the dry desert conditions of Indian Wells to the sticky humidity of Miami, the Sunshine Double is a challenge that few have managed to conquer with both trophies in tow.
Just seven men have swept both the BNP Paribas Open and the Miami Open presented by Itau in the same season, a list dominated by former World No. 1s.
Novak Djokovic has reigned victorious across the Sunshine Double a record four times, while Roger Federer accomplished it three times. The Swiss is the most recent player to achieve the feat, having done so in 2017.
Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev, three of the 29 members in the ATP No. 1 Club, are among those who will soon begin their quest of joining the exclusive list of those to triumph in Indian Wells and Miami in the same season.
| Players to win ‘Sunshine Double’ | Year(s) |
| Jim Courier | 1991 |
| Michael Chang | 1992 |
| Pete Sampras | 1994 |
| Marcelo Rios | 1998 |
| Andre Agassi | 2001 |
| Roger Federer | 2005, 2006, 2017 |
| Novak Djokovic | 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016 |
*ATP No. 1 Club members highlighted in bold
Jim Courier was the first to win the Sunshine Double in 1991 at the age of 20. The American began Indian Wells as the No. 26 player in the PIF ATP Rankings before going on a career-defining run, not only in California and south Florida, but the rest of the season.
Courier, who needed a fifth-set tie-break to win a three-hour, 30-minute Indian Wells final against Frenchman Guy Forget, would claim his first major title at Roland Garros that year. Using his devastating inside-out forehand to great effect, Courier also reached the US Open final, helping his ascension to World No. 1 for the first time in 1992.
Courier’s countryman Pete Sampras followed suit across the Sunshine Double in 1994. Sampras was No. 1 at the time, but arrived in Indian Wells still searching to find his groove at the tournament, having won seven matches across his first five appearances. He turned that around in emphatic fashion in ‘94, winning a five-set Indian Wells final before successfully defending his Miami crown two weeks later.
The 1994 Miami final, one of 34 Lexus ATP Head2Head duels between Sampras and Andre Agassi, is often remembered for Agassi’s sportsmanship. After learning that Sampras was ill with a stomach problem, Agassi agreed to delay the championship match until the following day, allowing his rival more time to recover from his sickness. “If I couldn’t beat Pete healthy, I didn’t deserve to win the tournament,” Agassi said at the time, according to The New York Times.
In 1998, Chilean Marcelo Rios won the Sunshine Double to secure his rise to World No. 1. Rios began that season as the No. 10 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, but in just three months, he surged to the top. Rios dropped just one set in Indian Wells — a dramatic second-set tie-break in the final against Greg Rusedski that the Briton won 17/15, testifying how much it took to claim a single set off the Chilean during his Sunshine Double run.
For Rios, a double prize was then on the line in Miami. He would become World No. 1 if he won the title. The third seed did just that, defeating Agassi in the championship match.
Agassi would enjoy his moment in the Sunshine Double spotlight three years later in 2001. The American downed three Top 10 players across both tournaments, including a straight-sets victory against great rival Sampras in the Indian Wells final.
[NO 1 CLUB]Then came Federer and Djokovic, the only players to complete the Sunshine Double on more than one occasion. In 2005, Federer’s hopes of achieving the feat for the first time were hanging by a thread. The Swiss miraculously came back from two sets to love down in the Miami final to escape none other than Rafael Nadal. That dramatic Federer-Nadal final was a year removed from their first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting, coincidentally at the same venue. The rivals would go on to face each other 40 times in their illustrious careers.
In 2006, Federer operated on a different plane. Across the Sunshine Double, the Swiss dropped two sets in 12 matches, a snapshot of Federer’s start to the year. Federer lost one match during the first three months of 2006.
Staying with dominant streaks, Djokovic’s 2011 run stands among the greatest. The Serbian won his first 41 matches of the 2011 season, including triumphs in Indian Wells and Miami. Djokovic downed rivals Federer and Nadal in the Indian Wells semi-finals and final, respectively, and would again defeat the Spaniard in the Miami title match.
Djokovic turned the Sunshine Double into his domain from 2014-16. He completed a hat-trick, leaving both events with the trophy for three consecutive years. In 2016, the Belgrade native, who boasts a record 428 weeks spent at No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings, ousted four Top 10 players across both tournaments.
From Courier’s breakthrough in 1991 to Djokovic’s record-setting dominance, the Sunshine Double has remained a rare proving ground: Win both Indian Wells and Miami, and you are bound for legendary status.
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