When the calendar turns to March, the tennis world enters the "Sunshine Doubles" time, and the two ATP/WTA1000 men's and women's tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami, known as the "fifth Grand Slam", will be staged in the United States one after another, ending the first quarter of the season strongly.

Indian Wells Center Court (Photo: Visual China)

The Indian Wells Tournament began in 1976 and was upgraded to the ATP1000 Masters in 1990, the men's and women's events were merged in 1996, and in 1997 it was upgraded to WTA Group I (now known as the WTA1000 Tournament). At the turn of the millennium, the tournament moved to the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, surrounded by desert in Southern California, and it was in this year that the tournament saw a draw expansion and an extended schedule that became the super-major we see today.

Indian Wells Center Court (Photo: Li Jianyi)

The tournament's slogan, "Tennis Paradise," has been popular for years, with Indian Wells having been named the best event in the ATP1000 class for the past 10 consecutive years and the best event in the WTA1000 class for 11 consecutive years. Court 1 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden is the second largest tennis arena in the world after Arthur Ashe (U.S. Open), with a capacity of 16,100 spectators.

Claydon Park, Miami's former site (Photo: Li Jianyi)

Miami is America's "vacation paradise" with a beachy atmosphere and comfortable temperatures, with an average temperature of around 20 degrees Celsius even during the coldest months of winter. In 1985, the first Miami Open was launched, and interestingly, the tournament was not originally held in the city of Miami, but in 1985 it was held in Dela Beach, 50 miles north of Miami, before moving to Boca Raton, Florida in 1986, and only "returning" to Miami in 1987 to Claydon Park, Biscayne Bay. In 2019, on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the Miami Open, the event came to Hard Rock Stadium, home of the NFL Miami Dolphins.

Hard Rock Arena Miami (Photo: Visual China)

Geographically, Indian Wells and Miami are located in the western and eastern parts of the United States, respectively, so the weather environment between the two places is quite different, Indian Wells is located in the desert of Southern California, the climate is dry, and Miami, which is affected by sea breezes and warm currents, is mainly hot and humid. Therefore, the long month-long schedule, contrasting weather conditions and the fatigue of the journey are undoubtedly a huge challenge for the players.

In addition, while Indian Wells and Miami share hard courts, the two events use two different types of courts. For more than 20 years, the Indian Wells court has used Plexipave, which has long been considered a hard court with higher bounce and slower ball speed. However, the tournament announced that it will switch to the same Laykold hard surface as Miami and the US Open from this year, which is expected to result in faster ball speeds and lower bounces.

If he can win back-to-back championships in these two hardcourt tournaments with 96 singles and 32 doubles draws, it can be said to be a strong embodiment of a player's hard power. Only 11 players have achieved this feat since the Open era, with seven spots on the men's side, the first to do so was American Courell, who won back-to-back Indian Wells and Miami titles in 1991 at the age of 20, then won the French Open and US Open runner-up that year, and became world number one the following year. Today, Courell is still active in the tennis world as a TV commentator and live interview host.

The second male player to do so is Chinese-American Zhang Depei, one of the best Asian players in tennis history, who also achieved the "Sunshine Double" in 1992 at the age of 20, three years after he won his first Grand Slam title at the French Open. This was followed by another legend from the United States, Sampras, who achieved the feat in 1994 and won two Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open and Wimbledon in the same year, making him number one in the world for the year. In 1998, Chilean legend Rios won back-to-back championships in Indian Wells and Miami, becoming the first South American football champion with this achievement. In 2022, Rios coached Chinese player Shang Juncheng for a short time.

In 2017, Federer won the championship in Indian Wells (Photo: Visual China)

In 2016, Djokovic took a photo of the Miami champion (Photo: Visual China)

Agassi is the only American to unlock the "Sunshine Double" in the new millennium, a feat he achieved in 2001 and won the Australian Open that year. Federer and Novak Djokovic are the two giants, with the Swiss king winning Indian Wells and Miami in 2005 and 2006 in two consecutive seasons, and then becoming the oldest winner of the "Sunshine Double" in 2017 at the age of 35. Djokovic has achieved this feat four times, the most of any player in the Open era (2011, 2014-2016), and his feat of achieving a double for three consecutive years is arguably one of the hardest achievements in tennis to replicate. Among the seven, Zhang Depei is the only player who has not reached the top of the world No. 1, and Rios is the only player who has not reached the top of the world.

In 2016, Azarenka was crowned champion in Miami (Photo: Visual China)

On the women's side, there were only four players, the first of whom was 22-time Grand Slam singles champion and Agassi's wife, Graf, who won the 'Sunshine Double' twice in 1994 and 1996. This was followed by Clijsters in 2005, when the Belgian won the US Open that year and her first Grand Slam title after winning back-to-back Indian Wells and Miami. Eleven years later, Azarenka made her comeback in 2016 with back-to-back tops in Indian Wells and Miami, and she announced her pregnancy shortly thereafter, meaning she achieved the Sunshine Double while pregnant with a child in her womb.

In 2022, Swiatek won the "Sunshine Double Crown" (Photo: Visual China)

The most recent winner of the Sunshine Double was Poland's Swiatek, who topped the world number one in 2022 with back-to-back titles, becoming the youngest woman to win the Sunshine Double since the Open era, and has since reigned for more than two years.

The 2025 Indian Wells race will begin on March 5 and run until March 19. Zhang Zhizhen, Buyun Chaoket, Wang Xinyu and Yuan Yue will be in action on the first day of the event, while Zheng Qinwen will make her debut on Friday or Saturday local time as the No. 8 seed in the Women's Singles, and she will make her debut between former world No. 1 Azarenka and local qualifier Clevy Ngunu.

(Text, Editor/Faye Wong)