Hubert Hurkacz, John Isner join Roger Federer in exclusive club after doubles win in Miami
Hubert Hurkacz and John Isner lifted the men's doubles title in Miami on Saturday to join Roger Federer and Richard Krajicek in an exclusive club of players who have won both singles and doubles crowns in the Florida city.
Isner and Hurkacz had to work hard to get their hands on the doubles trophy. They beat Australian Open champions Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis in the semifinals and sixth seeds Neal Skupski and Wesley Koolhof in the final.
Given that Isner won the singles event in 2018 and Hurkacz triumphed last year, they became the third and fourth players to have lifted both singles and doubles titles in Miami after Krajicek and Federer.
Roger Federer won the doubles event in 2003 alongside Max Mirnyi, beating Leander Paes and David Rikl in the final. Federer went on to win four singles titles as well, in 2005, 2006, 2017 and 2019.
Your 2017 Miami Open champion... the inimitable @rogerfederer! https://t.co/6FwsDarJpH
Richard Krajicek, meanwhile, won the doubles title alongside Jan Siemerink in 1993, beating the pairing of Patrick McEnroe and Jonathan Stark in the final. Krajicek won the singles event in 1999 after beating the likes of Pete Sampras, Thomas Enqvist and Sebastien Grosjean.
Singles + doubles champions in #MiamiOpen history:
Richard Krajicek (1993 singles - 1999 doubles)
Roger Federer (2003 doubles - 2005, 2006, 2017, 2019 singles)
John Isner (2018 singles - 2022 doubles)
Hubert Hurkacz (2021 singles - 2022 doubles)
@HubertHurkacz 🤜🤛 @JohnIsner https://t.co/jGbADHejZU
Roger Federer has not competed since 2021 Wimbledon
Roger Federer's career hasn't gone the way he would have envisioned in the past couple of years. He has been sidelined ever since his quarter-final loss to Hubert Hurkacz at Wimbledon last year.
Coming off a lengthy layoff and reaching the quarterfinals of Wimbledon was supposed to be a step in the right direction for the Swiss, but instead he aggravated a knee problem and was forced to go under the knife once again.
Having been sidelined for so long due to knee injuries, the Swiss' ranking has taken a nosedive. He has dropped 18 places to No. 44, his lowest ranking since early 2000. To make matters worse, he could slide even further down over the next few months.
As things stand, there is no clear timeline for his return. But he has declared that he will participate in this year's Laver Cup, which is to be held during the end of September.