The Sunshine Double, winning the Indian Wells Open and Miami Open titles in the same season, is one of the unique milestones in tennis. Indian Wells Open and Miami Open are among the most prestigious tennis tournaments after the grand slam—even the Indian Wells Open is known as the fifth slam of the year.
There are only 11 players from both ATP and WTA, who have achieved this rare achievement. Many players including Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Steffi Graf have won the Sunshine Double multiple times.
Here is the list of the Sunshine Double winners:
1. Jim Courier (1991)
American player Jim Courier was the first player to win the Sunshine Double. He achieved this milestone in 1991, when he defeated Guy Forget in the Indian Wells final, and David Wheaton in the Miami Open final.
2. Michael Chang (1992)
American player Michael Chang became the second player to win the Sunshine Double. He achieved this feat in 1992, by defeating Andrei Chesnokov in the Indian Wells final, and Alberto Mancini in the Miami Open final.
3. Pete Sampras (1994)
14-time Grand Slam champion Pete Sampras completed the Sunshine Double in 1994. To achieve this feat, he defeated Petr Korda in the Indian Wells final, and Andre Agassi in the Miami Open final.
4. Steffi Graf (1994, 1996)
22-time grand singles champion, Steffi Graf won the Sunshine Double twice in her career. Only three players in history have won the Sunshine Double multiple times, and Graf is one of them.
In 1994, Graf defeated Amanda Coetzer in the Indian Wells final, and Natasha Zvereva in the Miami Open final.
In 1996, Graf became the first player to win the Sunshine Double twice. She defeated Conchita Martinez and Chanda Rubin in the respective finals.
5. Marcelo Rios (1998)
Chilean tennis player Marcelo Rios won the Sunshine Double in 1998. He defeated Greg Rusedski in the Indian Wells final, and Andre Agassi in the Miami Open final.
Marcelo Rios is the only player in history, who won the Sunshine Double but never won the grand slam. However, he made the final of the Australian Open in 1998, but lost the final against Petr Korda.
6. Andre Agassi (2001)
Eight-time grand slam champion Andre Agassi completed the Sunshine Double in 2001. Agassi defeated Lleyton Hewitt in the semifinal and then Pete Sampras in the final to win his first Indian Wells title.
Then he defeated Jan-Michael Gambill in the Miami Open final to complete the Sunshine Double.
7. Roger Federer (2005, 2006, 2017)
One of the greatest tennis players in history, Roger Federer won the Sunshine Double three times in his career. In 2005, he defeated Lleyton Hewitt in Indian Wells and Rafael Nadal in the Miami Open final.
In 2006, Federer became the first player to win the back-to-back Sunshine Double. He defeated James Blake and Ivan Ljubičić in the respective finals.
Federer completed the Sunshine Double third time, in 2017, at the age of 35. He defeated Stan Wawrinka in the Indian Wells final and Rafael Nadal in the Miami Open final.
8. Kim Clijsters (2005)
Former world No.1 and four-time grand slam champion, Kim Clijsters completed the Sunshine Double in 2005. She defeated Lindsay Davenport in the Indian Wells final, and Maria Sharapova in the Miami Open final.
9. Novak Djokovic (2011, 2014, 2015, 2016)
24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic holds almost every major record in tennis. Djokovic is the only player in history, who won the Sunshine Double four times, and the only player to win three in a row.
In 2011, Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal in the both Indian Wells and Miami Open finals. In 2014, he defeated Roger Federer in the Indian Wells final, and Rafael Nadal in the Miami Open final.
In 2015, he defeated Roger Federer in the Indian Wells final, and Andy Murray in the Miami Open final.
The last time Djokovic won the Sunshine Double was in 2016, when he defeated Milos Raonic in the Indian Wells final, and Kei Nishikori in the Miami Open final.
10. Victoria Azarenka (2016)
Victoria Azarenka is the 10th player to win the Sunshine Double, she did it in 2016. She achieved this feat by defeating Serena Williams in the Indian Wells final, and Svetlana Kuznetsova in the Miami Open final.
11. Iga Swiatek (2022)
Current World No. 1 Iga Swiatek completed the Sunshine Double in 2022, at the age of 20 years and 10 months. She defeated Maria Sakkari in the Indian Wells final, and Naomi Osaka in the Miami Open final.
FAQs
A. Winning the Indian Wells and Miami titles in the same year, is called Sunshine Double.
A. There are 11 players in the history of tennis who have won the Sunshine Double.
A. American player Jim Courier was the first player to win the Sunshine Double.
A. Roger Federer won the Sunshine Doubles three times in his career in 2005, 2006, and 2017.
A. Novak Djokovic won the Sunshine Doubles four times in his career in 2011, 2014, 2015, and 2016.
