We are in the exciting moment of the season in which the first Masters 1000 of the year and, with it, the coveted Sunshine Double. But what does it mean? The term refers to the unusual fact of winning the tournament of Indian Wells and the one of Miami in the same season. Indeed, a difficult and very ambitious task for the tennis players of both circuits, both ATP as WTA. At this time, once Carlos Alcaraz has been proclaimed the winner in Indian Wells, we are left to ask ourselves, will the Spaniard be able to revalidate the Miami Open and complete the Sunshine Double this year? We don’t know that yet, but we do know who have reached this milestone in their careers.
Novak Djokovic got the double on four occasions
The list is really small if we look back. A total of 11 tennis players have been lucky enough to win this consecutive double and only 3 can boast of having repeated the feat. On the ATP circuit, the first to do so was Jim Courier in 1991. After him, he was followed by Michael Chang (1992), Pete Sampras (1994), Marcelo Rios (1998), Andre Agassi (2001), Roger Federer (2005, 2006, 2017) y Novak Djokovic (2011, 2014, 2015, 2016). On the other hand, the female players who made it were Steffi Graf (1994, 1996), Kim Clijsters (2005), Victoria Azarenka (2016) e Every Swiatek (2022).
With these data in view, several conclusions can be drawn, both from the tournament and from the players who won the Sunshine Double. And it is that, to begin with, it is necessary to address the complexity of winning both tournaments, not only because of its category, but also because of its proximity on the calendar. And it is that, linking both events supposes an important physical exhaustion taking into account the few days of rest enjoyed by those who sign up for the two tournaments: It means playing 14 games (or 12 if you get a bye in the first round) in about three weeks. An atrocity.
On the other hand, if we look at the big names of those who achieved this feat, it is obvious that we understand its magnitude even more. Novak Djokovic, without a doubt, is the great winner of the Sunshine Double. The wonderful time that he lived between 2014 and 2016 led him to take over these two great tournaments, like a king to whom his crown belongs. And speaking of kings, who we cannot ignore in this statistic is Iga Swiatek. Of all that he achieved number 1 last year, one more milestone that he could not resist.
Alcaraz gets the Sunshine Double in different years
However. A parallel statistic can also be drawn up to find out who won this double, but in different years. Miloslav Mecir, Agassi, Courier, Chang, Sampras, Federer, Djokovic y Carlos Alcaraz are the proper nouns that make up this list. In addition, the Murcian is the youngest to achieve it. It is not the same feat, but it is interesting to take this data into account because, except for Mecir and Alcaraz, the rest managed to win both tournaments, both in different years and in the same year. So, can Carlitos emulate his teammates on that select list of 11 and do it in the same year?
At the moment we are fully in the Miami Open and with an eye on who will be their big winners. Elena Rybakina y Carlos Alcaraz they are the tennis players who will have the chance to land that sweet Sunshine Double. So, let them work and let the show begin.
