5 players who have won the Sunshine Double since 2000, featuring Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Victoria Azarenka
Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic are among several players who have completed the Sunshine Double, winning the Indian Wells and Miami Masters in the same year.
Both tournaments will take place this month, so it will be interesting to see if anyone is able to complete the double this year or not.
The last time someone attained the feat was Federer in 2017 and since then, he has come closer than any other player to winning the Indian Wells and Miami Masters in the same year.
Federer won the latter tournament in 2019 by beating John Isner in the final. However, he lost to Dominic Thiem in the final of the Indian Wells Masters despite taking the first set.
Last year, Cameron Norrie and Paula Badosa were the champions in Indian Wells while Hubert Hurkacz and Ashleigh Barty triumphed in Miami.
It will be interesting to see whether any player is able to complete the Sunshine Double in 2022. Rafael Nadal has been in scintillating form this year, having won the Australian Open and recently the Mexican Open too. He will be a heavy favorite to win both tournaments and with a 15-0 win-loss this year, he has a great chance of completing the double.
However, the likes of Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev have a fair chance of completing the double as well.
The likes of Barbora Krejcikova, Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek and Anett Kontaveit can challenge for both WTA 1000 competitions. Swiatek reached the semifinals of the Australian Open and recently won the Qatar Open. It goes without saying that the Pole has a good chance at completing the double as well.
So far, only ten players have completed the Sunshine Double, five of whom have done so this century. Some of them have even attained the feat on multiple occasions.
So without any further ado, let's take a look at the 5 players who have completed the Sunshine Double since 2000.
1) Andre Agassi- 2001
Andre Agassi entered the 2001 Indian Wells Masters as the fourth seed and started the tournament strongly with wins over Hicham Arazi and Tommy Haas. He then fought off Nicolas Keifer in three sets before beating Nicolas Lapentti to seal his place in the semifinals.
He beat Lleyton Hewitt in three sets to set up a title clash with rival Pete Sampras. Agassi beat the top seed 7-5, 7-5, 6-1 in the final to win the Indian Wells Masters for the first time in his career.
He then competed at the Miami Masters as the third seed and reached the semifinals without dropping a single set. Here, he beat Patrick Rafter in three sets to advance to the final.
Agassi beat compatriot Jan-Michael Gambil in straight sets to win the Miami Masters for the fourth time and complete the elusive sunshine double.
2. Roger Federer- 2005, 2006 and 2017
Roger Federer entered the 2005 Indian Wells Masters as the top seed and won the competition by beating second-seeded Lleyton Hewitt in the final. The Swiss won the tournament without dropping a single set.
Federer then won the Miami Masters by beating a young Rafael Nadal in a thrilling final that went on for five sets.
Federer completed the double the following year as well by beating James Blake and Ivan Ljubicic in the finals of the Indian Wells and Miami Masters respectively.
Federer entered the 2017 Indian Wells as the ninth seed and won the tournament without dropping a single set. He beat compatriot Stan Wawrinka in the final.
The then 35-year-old was seeded fourth at the Miami Masters and reached the quarterfinals following wins over Frances Tiafoe, Juan Martin del Potro and Roberto Bautista Agut. Here, he fought off Tomas Berdych in three sets before surviving a scare from Nick Kyrgios in the semifinals. Federer beat the Australian in three sets, all of which went to tiebreaks, to reach his first final in Miami since 2006.
In the final, the Swiss was up against Nadal and beat him 6-3, 6-4 to complete the Sunshine Double for a third time.
ICYMI | Federer beats Nadal in third 2017 final to win Miami Masters 🎾
en.as.com/en/2017/04/03/… https://t.co/t38uZSrnqw
3 Kim Clijsters- 2005
After an injury-plagued 2004 season, Kim Clijsters entered the 2005 Indian Wells Open unseeded. The Belgian reached the quarterfinals of the tournament without dropping a single set. Here, she beat Conchita Martinez in three sets before seeing off fourth seed Elena Dementieva to reach the final.
In the title clash, Clijsters met top seed Lindsay Davenport, who she previously beat in the 2003 final. The Belgian once again defeated her to win her second title in Indian Wells.
Clijsters then competed in the Miami Open and cruised through to the final, beating three top-5 seeds in the process. She beat Anastasia Myskina, Elena Dementieva and top seed Amelie Mauresmo, dropping just 11 games against the three of them combined.
Clijsters then beat second seed Maria Sharapova 6-3, 7-5 in the final to win the Miami Open for the first time in her career. She thus became the first woman to complete the Sunshine Double this century.
4 Novak Djokovic- 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016
Novak Djokovic holds numerous records to his name, but one that many might not be aware of is the fact that he has completed the Sunshine Double more than any other player.
The Serb had a chance to complete the double in 2007 but lost in the Indian Wells Final to Rafael Nadal before beating Guillermo Canas in the final of the Miami Masters.
Djokovic first completed the Sunshine Double in 2011 by beating Rafael Nadal in the final of both tournaments. In both finals, he came back from a set down to win.
The Serb then completed the Sunshine Double in three successive years, from 2014-2016. Djokovic beat Roger Federer in the Indian Wells final in 2014 and 2015 while triumphing over Milos Raonic in 2016. He defeated Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Kei Nishikori in the finals of the Miami Masters in 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively.
Novak Djokovic sweeps sunshine double. Read @crosscourt1's analysis --> wearetennis.com/en_UK/2016/04/… https://t.co/ybWUZM0Cg9
5. Victoria Azarenka- 2016
Victoria Azarenka entered the 2016 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells as the 13th seed and reached the quarterfinals following wins over Zarina Diyas, Zhang Shuai and Samantha Stosur.
The Belarusian thrashed Magdalena Rybarikova 6-0, 6-0 to reach the semifinals. Here, she beat Karolina Pliskova in three sets to set up a title clash with Serena Williams. Azarenka beat the top seed 6-4, 6-4 to win her second title at Indian Wells.
She entered the Miami Open as the 13th seed and won the competition by beating Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final. Azarenka won her third title in Miami without dropping a single set.