Once a decade Sunshine Double achievement possible for Jannik Sinner at Miami Open

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29 March 2026 at 17:52

Jannik Sinner will face Jiri Lehecka in the Miami Open final on Sunday, March 29. As the Indian Wells champion, Sinner is seeking completion of the Sunshine Double with a win in Miami.

Aryna Sabalenka won the Sunshine Double on Saturday.

Winning the Sunshine Double is far from an everyday occurrence. Seven men and five women have done it in tennis history since its inception in 1985. An even rarer occurrence is if the men’s and women’s singles champion wins it in the same year. That has only happened three times, once per decade.

MORE: 3 ways Aryna Sabalenka is rewriting tennis history with Sunshine Double win

Pete Sampras and Steffi Graf, 1994

Sampras won the Sunshine Double once, but Graf went on to win it a second time in 1996.

Roger Federer and Kim Clijsters, 2005

2005 was the first of a three-peat of Sunshine Double wins for Federer, and the only one for Kim Clijsters.

Novak Djokovic and Victoria Azarenka, 2016

Djokovic is a four-time Sunshine Double winner, and Azarenka, who has been curiously absent and without explanation in the 2026 WTA season, won it one time.

Jannik Sinner ? and Aryna Sabalenka, 2026

Jannik Sinner (left) and Aryna Sabalenka (right) won Cincinnati Open titles in 2024.

Sinner needs to defeat Lehecka to join Sabalenka in completing this feat in 2026. Both players are the best hardcourt players in their respective games, and the best of their generation, so there is no reason to believe that this could not be a repeat occurrence.

MORE: Can Indian Wells champion Jannik Sinner reclaim ATP World No. 1 ranking from Carlos Alcaraz

A Sunshine Double doubles note

Americans have been curiously absent from making recent Sunshine Double history despite both tournaments being played in the US.

Taylor Townsend has an opportunity to make her own Sunshine Double history in women’s doubles if she and partner Katerina Siniakova defeat the Italian team of Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani in the Miami Open women’s doubles final.