From courier to Federer and Djokovic, relive ATP No. 1 Club Sunshine Double sweeps | ATP tour | Tennis

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From Courier to Federer and Djokovic, relive ATP No. 1 Club Sunshine Double sweeps

ATPTour.com looks back at players who won the Indian Wells and Miami titles
March 2, 2026

From the dry desert conditions of Indian Wells to the sticky humidity of Miami, the Sunshine Double is a challenge that few have managed to overcome with both trophies in tow.

Only seven men have won both the BNP Paribas Open and the Miami Open presented by Itau in the same season, a list dominated by former world No. 1s.

Novak Djokovic has emerged victorious at the Sunshine Double four times, a record, while Roger Federer has achieved it three times. The Swiss is the most recent player to achieve the feat, having done so in 2017.

Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev, three of the 29 members of the ATP No. 1 Club, are among those who will soon begin their quest to join the exclusive list of those who will triumph in Indian Wells and Miami in the same season.

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Jim Courier was the first to win the Sunshine Double in 1991 at the age of 20. The American entered Indian Wells as the No. 26 player in the PIF ATP Rankings before embarking on a career-defining run not only in California and South Florida, but also the rest of the season.

Courier, who needed a fifth-set tiebreak to win a three-hour, thirty-minute Indian Wells final against Frenchman Guy Forget, would claim his first major title at Roland Garros that year. Using his devastating inside-out forehand to great effect, Courier also reached the final of the US Open, rising to No. 1 in the world for the first time in 1992.

Courier’s compatriot Pete Sampras followed suit at the Sunshine Double in 1994. Sampras was No. 1 at the time, but arrived in Indian Wells still looking to find his feet in the tournament, having won seven matches in his first five appearances. In ’94 he turned that around in emphatic fashion, winning a five-set final in Indian Wells before successfully defending his title in Miami two weeks later.

The 1994 Miami final, one of 34 Lexus ATP Head2Head matches between Sampras and Andre Agassi, is often remembered for Agassi’s sportsmanship. After hearing that Sampras was ill and had a stomach problem, Agassi agreed to postpone the championship match until the next day, giving his rival more time to recover from his illness. “If I couldn’t beat Pete healthily, I didn’t deserve to win the tournament,” Agassi said at the time, according to The New York Times.

In 1998, Chilean Marcelo Rios won the Sunshine Double to secure his rise to number 1 in the world. Rios started that season as the number 10 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, but in just three months he rose to the top. Rios dropped just one set in Indian Wells – a dramatic second-set tiebreak in the final against Greg Rusedski that the Briton won 17/15, testament to how much time it took to claim one set from the Chilean during his Sunshine Double run.

A double prize was at stake for Rios in Miami. He would become number 1 in the world if he won the title. The third seed did just that, defeating Agassi in the championship match.

Agassi would enjoy his moment in the Sunshine Double spotlight three years later in 2001. The American defeated three Top 10 players in both tournaments, including a straight sets victory against major rival Sampras in the Indian Wells final.

Then came Federer and Djokovic, the only players to complete the Sunshine Double more than once. In 2005, Federer’s hopes of achieving this feat for the first time hung by a thread. The Swiss miraculously came back from two sets down to escape none other than Rafael Nadal in the Miami final. That dramatic Federer-Nadal final was a year removed from their first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting, coincidentally at the same location. The rivals would meet forty times in their illustrious careers.

In 2006, Federer operated on another plane. The Sunshine Double saw the Swiss drop two sets in twelve matches, a snapshot of Federer’s start to the year. Federer lost one match during the first three months of 2006.

Djokovic’s 2011 run continues his dominant streak and ranks among the best. The Serbian won his first 41 matches of the 2011 season, including victories in Indian Wells and Miami. Djokovic defeated rivals Federer and Nadal in the Indian Wells semi-finals and final respectively, and would beat the Spaniard again in the Miami title match.

Djokovic made the Sunshine Double his domain from 2014 to 2016. He completed a hat-trick, leaving both events with the trophy for three consecutive years. In 2016, the Belgrade native, who has spent a record 428 weeks at No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings, ousted four Top 10 players in both tournaments.

From Courier’s breakthrough in 1991 to Djokovic’s record dominance, the Sunshine Double has remained a rare proving ground: win both Indian Wells and Miami and you’re on your way to legendary status.