The Importance of The Sunshine Double
The Sunshine Double is an incredibly challenging task for tennis players. It requires winning two specific competitions in the same season. We’ve delved into everything you need to know about the Sunshine Double and what to expect this year.
What is the Sunshine Double?
The Sunshine Double tennis achievement is when players win both the Indian Wells and Miami Open tennis competitions. The events are consecutive, so it requires elite consistency from players. Anyone wondering what the sunshine double is in tennis can find the full details in our guide.
Why is it Called the Sunshine Double?
The name of the feat is quite self-explanatory. It’s two tournaments played back to back, typically during extremely hot weather. It’s this aspect that makes it such a difficult tournament to win. Both events are played on hard courts, which puts a lot of strain on player joints. Additionally, as the weather is extremely hot, it’s a punishing schedule to go to the final and win both competitions.
It’s been available since 1985 for male and 1989 for female players. As a result, more male players have achieved the feat than female. An interesting stat about the Sunshine Double is that of the 17 times it’s been accomplished, 10 have come after 2005. Part of this could be that modern winners have access to superior sports science, ensuring they can recover better. As it’s a grueling schedule to win both events, better recovery technology ensures players don’t break down and can maintain consistency.
Who’s Won the Sunshine Double?
There have been seven male Sunshine Double winners and four female version winners. On the men’s side, two players have won the Sunshine Double more than once. For female players, only one of the players has won it more than once.
Male Winners:
- Jim Courier (1991)
- Michael Chang (1992)
- Pete Sampras (1994)
- Marcelo Rios (1998)
- Andre Agassi (2001)
- Roger Federer (2005, 2006, 2017)
- Novak Djokovic (2011, 2014, 2015, 2016)
Female Winners:
- Steffi Graf (1994, 1996)
- Kim Clijsters (2005)
- Victoria Azarenka (2016)
- Iga Swiatek (2022)
Roger Federer (2005, 2006, 2017)
There was a time when Federer looked like he would go down as the greatest tennis player ever. While he’s been overtaken in that respect, he was still the first male player to win the Sunshine Double more than once and managed it in consecutive years. Interestingly, his third Sunshine Double win came in 2017, after Djokovic had won it in three successive years. It meant that someone completed the feat four years in a row.
What helped Federer complete his Sunshine Doubles is that he’s arguably the greatest hard-court player ever. More than any other player, he holds 191 wins on hard courts in Grand Slams. As both the Indian Wells and Miami Open are hard-court competitions, anyone making a pick at sweepstakes casinos will have seen Federer’s name and been likely to choose him.
Novak Djokovic (2011, 2014, 2015, 2016)
Although Federer was once likely to become the best ever, Djokovic arrived with a desire to blow him out of the water. He managed it and has a total of 24 titles, with plenty of time for him to add to his haul. Djokovic has remained at the top of the tennis rankings for a longer cumulative period than any other player in history, with the potential to extend it before he retires. Even now, as he’s past his prime, he remains in the top 10 and can compete against anyone.
Novak Djokovic is the only player in history to have completed the Sunshine Double three times in a row. Although Federer managed it in two consecutive years, Djokovic blew that out of the water in 2016. He’s also the player to have done it most often, as he’s done it four times to Federer’s three.
Steffi Graf (1994, 1996)
Steffi Graf is the only female player to have done the Sunshine Double more than once. Although she’s unlikely to be at the top of many people’s best-ever lists, it’s unfair as she should be in the conversation. Graf is only behind Margaret Court and Serena Williams for total titles won. She has 22 to 24 for Court and 23 for Williams. She also did it in fewer finals than Williams, although Court managed her 24 in just 29. You could also argue that Graf played in an era with more competition than the other two, making her achievement more impressive.
She managed the Sunshine Double in 1994 and 1996, the twilight of her career. However, she was only 30 at the time, and many believe she could have continued and won some additional titles. It’s possible she could have completed the feat again if she hadn’t retired so early.
Future Sunshine Doubles
Iga Swiatek is the only current player who looks like she will become a multi-time Sunshine Double holder. Anyone looking to predict future players would be best suited to look at Swiatek as a dominant force.
