The Sunshine Double: It's almost a habit for men

While there were only three players for women who won the tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami (up to last year in Key Biscayne), the list for men is significantly longer.

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The men in Indian Wells have had one of the biggest tournaments on the tennis calendar since 1987, and two years later the women also moved to the California desert. At the beginning as a smaller event, which has now also reached the status of the unofficial fifth major. Who exactly founded the term "Sunshine Double" in combination with the event in Key Biscayne (now Miami) can no longer be determined exactly. However, who did it on the two professional tours, won the titles at the two tournaments within a few weeks (2020 will not happen - unless both tournaments are added in autumn).

And on the women's side there are only three players: First there is Steffi Graf, who did the feat in 1994 and 1996. Almost ten years later, more specifically in 2005, Kim Clijsters struck in Indian Wells and Miami. And the last double winner on the list is Viktoria Azarenka, a woman who picked up two big winners' checks in a short space of time in 2016. Serena Williams has won both tournaments several times (Miami eight times, Indian Wells twice), but never in the same year due to her long-standing boycott of Indian Wells.

Federer barely fails in 2019, Nadal still without a Sunshine Double

Things look different with men. Novak Djokovic alone secured four Sunshine Doubles, Roger Federer followed with three, most recently in 2017. The first double champion was Jim Courier in 1991, Michael Chang followed the year after. Marcelo Rios appears on the list rather unexpectedly, the unpredictable Chilean won the title in 1998. Even the men are missing at least one really big one: Rafael Nadal , who is still missing the victory in Miami despite several final appearances.

How close a player can be to the Sunshine Double without reaching it - this experience had to be experienced by several players. For example Andy Roddick 2010, who won the final against Tomas Berdych in Miami, but was previously defeated in the final by Indian Wells Ivan Ljubicic. Or last year Roger Federer, who followed the same pattern: defeat in the final in Indian Wells against Dominic Thiem, tournament victory in Miami against John Isner.

Here are the winners of the Sunshine Doubles