Without a doubt, South America has provided great tennis players in the history of world tennis. Almost exclusively in the region, Chile and Argentina have been the ones that have produced the most stars, which not only shone in the country, but also abroad. In this context Marcelo Rios has a unique record in this men’s sport.
Hours before the start of a new edition of the Miami Open, Chino’s most fervent fans reminded once again that he is the only South American to keep the trophy. In addition, it was not another championship, but, in this way, he confirmed the Sunshine Double, since he had also won the Indian Wells in the same 1998. The years passed and no one from this area has ever been able to achieve something similar to that of Marcelo Rios.
On that occasion, the great Chilean athlete was able to beat another glory like Andre Agassi in three sets (7-5, 6-3, 6-4) and became the first South American man to win. This helped him stay in first place in the ATP ranking on that occasion for the first time.. Two years later, he was nearly matched by other players but luck was not on his side.
Gustavo Kuerten was the one who came closest in the year 2000 to snatching this exclusive distinction from Marcelo Rios, but fell against Pete Sampras himself. Later the Argentines Guillermo Coria and Guillermo Cañas also had their chance but Andy Roddick and Novak Djokovic got in the way of their paths to glory. In any case, on the WTA circuit, Gabriela Sabatini became a giant in 1989 and defeated Chris Evert in the grand final.
Sunshine Double
When the man from Santiago achieved the double in Indian Wells and Miami, the list of tennis players who had achieved this only included Jim Courier (1991), Michael Chang (1992) and Pete Sampras (1994). This means that he is also the only South American to achieve this.
Later in time some extraordinary players like Andre Agassi joined in 2001. However, Novak Djokovic (2011, 2014 and 2016) and Roger Federer (2005 and 2006) arrived to redouble the bet and achieved it three and two times respectively. .
