The Steep Path to "Sunshine Double"

In professional tennis competition, there are several challenges considered greater than others. Typically, only exceptional tennis players are able to overcome these challenges.

One of the challenges considered extremely difficult in tennis is defeating Rafael Nadal on the clay courts of Roland Garros, France. By both current and former tennis players, this challenge is even regarded not only as the toughest in tennis but also in the world of sports.

Another major challenge is winning a Grand Slam, the highest level in professional tournaments, especially if done consecutively. The world of tennis even recognizes several terms to describe specific achievements due to their higher level of difficulty.

"Calendar Slam," for instance, refers to the achievement of winning all four Grand Slam tournaments in a single year, namely the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. There is also the term "Golden Slam" for tennis players who win all the Grand Slam tournaments in addition to earning a gold medal at the Olympics/Paralympics.

Above all of these achievements is the "Calendar Golden Slam," which occurs when a tennis player wins all Grand Slam tournaments and also secures an Olympic/Paralympic gold medal in the same year. Only three tennis players have achieved this feat: Steffi Graf in 1988, as well as Diede de Groot and Dylan Ascott in the wheelchair tennis category. Both won all major tournaments and claimed Paralympic gold in 2021.

Another term for an extraordinary achievement in a Grand Slam event is "Channel Slam." This refers to when a tennis player wins both the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year. "Channel Slam" is derived from the English Channel, part of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England and northern France.

Winning the two Grand Slam tournaments consecutively is a rare achievement, considering that they are held on courts with contrasting characteristics: clay courts (slow-paced) for the French Open and grass courts (fast-paced) for Wimbledon.

In the Open era (since 1968), only seven women's singles players have created a "Channel Slam", namely Evonne Goolagong, Margaret Court, Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Serena Williams. As for the men's singles, there are Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, Roger Federer, Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Carlos Alcaraz.

Outside of the Grand Slam, there is an equally tough challenge, namely winning the WTA 1000 and ATP Masters 1000 level tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami, United States. The combined event for men's and women's tennis players will be held consecutively in a span of almost a month, namely March 5-16 and March 18-30 in 2025.

Winning both tournaments in the same year is called the “Sunshine Double.” The term comes from the fact that Indian Wells and Miami are in the hot states of California and Florida.

The challenge of winning two events in a row is so tough that not all great tennis players can do it. Take Nadal, Navratilova, and Serena.

Nadal, in fact, has never won in Miami despite reaching the final five times. Navratilova and Serena actually have titles at both tournaments, but never in the same year.

Since the Indian Wells tournament was held in 1974 for the ATP Tour and 1989 (WTA Tour) and ATP/WTA Miami in 1985, only seven men's singles have created a "Sunshine Double". This achievement began in the 1990s with American men's singles player Jim Courier in 1991, then Michael Chang the following year.

Graf became the first player to win back-to-back titles at Indian Wells and Miami, in 1994 and 1996. Graf's achievement was surpassed by Novak Djokovic, who won Indian Wells-Miami in 2011, 2014, 2015 and 2016. Roger Federer is also the only player to have won the "Sunshine Double" more than once, in 2005, 2006 and 2017.

They are players who are very well adapted to the heat, the surface of the court, and the balls with different characteristics. Although both are hard courts, there are small but significant differences for the players. The courts in Miami bounce the ball faster than the ones in Indian Wells.

Another challenge is the time difference, as Miami is three hours ahead of Indian Wells. The flight between the two is also quite long, around six hours.

With no break between tournaments, unless players play each round over two days, playing in Indian Wells and then Miami is challenging, not only physically, but mentally as well.

Women's tennis player Maria Sakkari, for example, lost her first match (second round) in Miami after reaching the final of Indian Wells 2022. "When flying from California to Florida, there is a three-hour time difference and that really affects sleep time and other activities. Performance on the court also affects," said Sakkari, who only had a three-day break between the Indian Wells final and the second round of Miami.

Jessica Pegula had the opposite result that same year. After a second-round exit at Indian Wells, she reached the semifinals in Miami. After struggling with the dry and windy weather at Indian Wells, Pegula took advantage of the extended break to play in Miami.

“To be comfortable in two tournaments is very difficult because the conditions are very different,” Pegula said.

Given their struggles, Pegula and Sakkari also respect the players who have won back-to-back Indian Wells and Miami, including Iga Swiatek. In 2022, Swiatek defeated Sakkari in the Indian Wells final and Pegula in the Miami semifinals.

At that time, Swiatek won her first WTA title at Indian Wells, followed by a title in Miami. She also became the last player to achieve the “Sunshine Double”.

Former world number one Kim Clijsters explained that the most important key to winning back-to-back Indian Wells-Miami titles was maintaining focus. After winning a tournament, tennis players usually feel relieved because they are free from pressure. The focus on the match and the competitive feeling are gone.

But to face the Indian Wells and Miami tournaments without a break, that condition had to change. So, to maintain her focus, Clijsters, who won both tournaments in 2005 at the age of 21, followed her usual routine.

"After winning Indian Wells, I didn't see myself as a favorite to win Miami. I didn't look too far ahead. I trained, rested, ate well and did everything else as usual. The celebration after winning Indian Wells was postponed because I had to go straight to the next tournament," Clijsters said.

Federer even called the Indian Wells and Miami tournament schedules quite brutal. Moreover, tournaments with the ATP Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 levels are mandatory tournaments for qualified tennis players.

"I know how difficult it is to win Indian Wells and Miami back-to-back, especially since the competition in the ATP Masters 1000 tournament itself is very brutal. There are no easy matches from the first round. With the best of three sets format, the difference between one player and another is very small," Federer said on the official ATP website.

After Federer won the “Sunshine Double” in 2017 and Swiatek in 2022, only Elena Rybakina has the closest chance of achieving the same feat. She won the WTA Indian Wells, then reached the Miami final in 2023. However, her chances of winning the Miami title were thwarted by Petra Kvitova, who was her opponent in the final.

In 2024, the competition in women's singles is increasingly open. Among the world's top tennis players, only Swiatek has reached the final, namely in Indian Wells, and became the champion. However, in Miami, her progress was stopped by Ekaterina Alexandrova in the fourth round.

World number one Aryna Sabalenka, however, failed to make it to the last eight. She was eliminated in the fourth round in Indian Wells, then the third round in Miami.

Cori “Coco” Gauff, who prefers playing in Miami, lost in the fourth round after reaching the semifinals in Indian Wells a week earlier. Coco likes the hard courts in Florida because they help her hit big serves. However, she has never made it past the fourth round since her WTA Miami debut in 2019.

The 2025 competition looks set to be more open with Sabalenka, Swiatek and Coco's form declining after the Australian Open. After losing to Madison Keys in the final at Melbourne Park, Sabalenka lost in the second round of the WTA 1000 Doha, then the third round of Dubai at the same level.

Coco failed to make it past the second round at both events in the Middle East, losing in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. Swiatek still made the semi-finals in Doha, but had a worse showing in Dubai, where she was knocked out in the quarter-finals.

The birth of 12 champions from 13 WTA tournaments, held in January-February, shows that anyone can become a champion in the women's singles competition that for the past three years has been dominated by Swiatek. The tennis player who has five Grand Slam titles, in fact, has not won a title this year.

The men's singles competition map is also no different, moreover, the ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells and Miami will not be attended by world number one tennis player, Jannik Sinner. With his consistent performance at the top level since 2024, the Italian tennis player actually has the greatest chance to add to the list of tennis players who can win Indian Wells-Miami. However, Sinner is serving a three-month suspension for doping and will not be able to compete until early May.

Without Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz is the next leading candidate to complete the “Sunshine Double” that Federer last accomplished in men’s singles in 2017. Alcaraz is the 2023 and 2024 Indian Wells Masters champion and also won the Miami title in 2022.

That track record should be Alcaraz's capital to add to his record after becoming the youngest world number one, at the age of 20. He will also bring the ATP 500 Rotterdam title on the super-fast indoor court to his provision in the US later this month.

However, the Spaniard has not shown consistent form in three tournaments, losing only twice in 13 matches. He was still defeated by Djokovic, although the 37-year-old played with a hamstring injury in the Australian Open quarter-finals. In Doha, in mid-February, Alcaraz lost to Jiri Lehecka (world No. 25) in the quarter-finals.

Other than Alcaraz, no other player has performed as convincingly as a contender for the Indian Wells-Miami title. Alexander Zverev, the world number two who could overtake Sinner while he is suspended, has only reached the quarterfinals twice in three tournaments after the Australian Open final.

The players below him, namely Taylor Fritz, Casper Ruud, Andrey Rublev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Alex de Minaur also do not have the adequate provisions to win two Masters 1000 tournaments in a row, without a break.

With these conditions, the list of special tennis players who have won the “Sunshine Double” seems difficult to increase in the 2025 competition.