Both ATP star Sinner and WTA No. 1 Sabalenka completed feat this year

Neither Jannik Sinner nor Aryna Sabalenka will forget March 2026 in a hurry.

On Sunday at the Miami Open presented by Itau, the No. 2 player in the PIF ATP Rankings Sinner overcame Jiri Lehecka to clinch the trophy at Hard Rock Stadium. In doing so, he joined his WTA counterpart Sabalenka in completing the coveted ‘Sunshine Double’ for the first time.

The Sunshine Double, which refers to winning the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and the Miami Open presented by Itau in the same year, is one of the toughest achievements in tennis. Given the difference in conditions from the California desert of Indian Wells to the heat and humidity of Miami, a player must showcase elite adaptability to conquer both back to back.

Yet this year, both Sinner and Sabalenka appeared to have little trouble settling in at either tournament. WTA World No. 1 Sabalenka dropped just one set en route to her Indian Wells title, in the final against Elena Rybakina. She repeated the feat in Miami, again reeling off five straight-sets wins before battling to a three-set championship-match victory against Coco Gauff.

With both trophies already in her hands, Sabalenka sat down on Sunday night to watch Sinner complete his own ‘Sunshine Double’ on TV. As the Italian put away a volley to down Jiri Lehecka in the men’s final, Sabalenka posted on Instagram Stories with the words, ‘Forza Jannik Sinner, Sunshine Double’.

Remarkably, Sinner’s title runs in Indian Wells and Miami were even more dominant than Sabalenka’s. The 24-year-old Italian did not drop a set across either tournament, becoming the first player to do that. With his victory, Sinner became the eighth different man to complete the Sunshine Double and the first since Roger Federer in 2017, while Sabalenka is just the fifth woman to achieve the feat, and the first since Iga Swiatek in 2022.

Meanwhile, Sinner and Sabalenka’s achievements in March marked the fourth time that an ATP player and a WTA player have completed the Sunshine Double in the same year. The first time it happened was in 1994, when Pete Sampras and Steffi Graf each triumphed in Indian Wells and Miami. In 2005, Federer and Kim Clijsters each won both events, while in 2016 Novak Djokovic and Victoria Azarenka both secured Sunshine Double glory.