Sinner Completes Sunshine Double, Raises Stakes Against Alcaraz

Seven men in ATP history had swept Indian Wells and Miami in the same year. Not one of them had done it without dropping a set. Jannik Sinner just did both.

Powering past 22nd-ranked Czech Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 6-4 at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday, Sinner claimed his second Miami Open title to complete the Sunshine Double, joining a list of eight men that includes Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Pete Sampras. The win extended his streak to three consecutive Masters 1000 titles, following victories in Paris last autumn and at Indian Wells earlier this month.

The feat came with considerable drama. Early showers delayed the start of the final by more than an hour. Sinner had just secured the opening set when the rain returned, halting play for a further 90 minutes. The interruptions did little to disturb his rhythm. He broke Lehecka in the third game for a 2-1 lead, then saved three break points from 0-40 down, firing three service winners and two aces to hold. Lehecka saved set points in the ninth game with a service winner and a volley, eventually sealing the hold on his sixth game point, but Sinner closed the set with a love game.

The second followed a similar pattern. Lehecka fought off five set points before Sinner forced the only break to move ahead 5-4. He earned match point with a forehand volley winner, thought he had converted on a serve called a let, then finished with another winner at the net.

The last man to win both Indian Wells and Miami in the same year was Federer in 2017. Sinner, who won Miami in 2024 but missed last year serving a three-month doping ban after settling a doping case, accomplished the double without conceding a set in either tournament, a first in the history of the sweep.

His victory, combined with Aryna Sabalenka's defeat of Coco Gauff in the women's final on Saturday, marked the first time both the men's and women's singles players completed the Sunshine Double in the same year since Djokovic and Victoria Azarenka in 2016. The prior instances were Sampras and Steffi Graf in 1994, and Federer and Kim Clijsters in 2005.

The achievement heightens the stakes in Sinner's rivalry with world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, which defined men's tennis through 2025. The pair contested three consecutive Grand Slam finals in the same season, a first in tennis history, with Alcaraz erasing three match points to win the French Open, Sinner claiming Wimbledon, and Alcaraz taking the US Open. Sinner also won the Australian Open over Alexander Zverev, leaving each player with two majors for the year and career totals of six Grand Slams for Alcaraz and four for Sinner.

During his Wimbledon defeat, a camera caught Alcaraz telling his coaching team in Spanish: "From the back of the court, he's much better than me." Three straight Masters 1000 titles and a flawless Sunshine Double later, Sinner has given him more to consider.