Winning a title on the ATP Tour is extremely difficult. However, winning multiple times in a single year is even more spectacular a feat. Especially on the American courts, there have been very few repeated winners. But, there have been a select few players, such as Roger Federer, who managed to win the US Open and the Miami Open in the same year.
Let’s take a look at the four players who have managed to achieve the same.
Pete Sampras – 1993
For obvious reasons, Pete Sampras is always heavily supported by the crowd when playing on his home turf – the United States of America. In 1993, Sampras made full use of the crowd’s support and managed to win the Miami Open and the US Open.
Sampras capitalized on the fact that Jim Courier was out of the tournament in the fourth round. Meeting fellow countryman Malivai Washington, Pete completely obliterated the #14 seed 6-3, 6-2 to win the Miami Open 1993.
A similar case occurred in the US Open 1993. With Jim Courier eliminated before the quarterfinals, Sampras took advantage of the same as he defeated Cedric Pioline in straight sets to lift the trophy.
Roger Federer – 2005 & 2006
Roger Federer was in the prime of his prowess by the mid-2000s. The 2005 season was an exceptionally great campaign for the Swiss. After already winning the Qatar Open, the Rotterdam Open, the Dubai Tennis Championships, and the Indian Wells, Federer had a sensational run in the Miami Open 2005 as well.
After cruising to the quarterfinals, the then-World No.1 blew past Tim Henman and Andre Agassi to face Rafael Nadal in the finals. Nadal had a great start to the tie, winning the first two sets. Despite being on the verge of losing, the right-handed maven mounted a comeback, winning the finals 2-6, 6-7, 7-6, 6-3, 6-1.
Merely a couple of months and four more titles later, Roger Federer had yet another dominant run in the US Open 2005. Having dropped merely 1 set through the first four rounds, Roger found a spot in the finals after getting past David Nalbandian and Lleyton Hewitt. For the clash to lift the title, Federer got the better of Agassi, winning 6-3, 2-6, 7-6, 6-1.
Roger Federer is the only person on this list to achieve this impressive feat twice.
In 2006, picking up right where he left the previous season, Federer already won three titles in the four tournaments he played entering the Miami Open 2006. After a minor hiccup in the first-round clash against Arnaud Clement, Federer went on to win and defend his title without dropping a single set.
Federer was successful in replicating a similar success in New York five months later, as he won the US Open 2006, defeating crowd favorite Andy Roddick 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 in the finals.
Novak Djokovic – 2015
Back in 2015, Novak Djokovic became only the third player ever to win the Miami Open and the US Open in the same year.
As expected, Novak Djokovic made it past the fourth round of the Miami Open 2015. Further, after defeating David Ferrer and John Isner in straight sets, the Serbian was matched up against Andy Murray in the finals. Djoko, who had been in incredible form winning the Indian Wells merely a few days prior to that, lived up to the hype and won the battle 7-6, 4-6, 6-0.
The Joker would go on to win his third Grand Slam of the year, defeating Roger Federer 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 in the finals of the US Open 2022.
Carlos Alcaraz – 2022
Carlos Alcaraz is the fourth and the last player to win both prestigious American-based tournaments in the same year.
The teenager entered the Miami Open 2022 having lost the semifinals to Rafael Nadal in the Indian Wells merely a week before that. However, the teenager significantly improved during the South Florida-based tournament. Defeating Casper Ruud 7-5, 6-4 in the finals, the Spaniard won the Miami Open 2022.
Months later, Alcaraz put up some of the best performances of his career to defeat Marin Cilic, Jannik Sinner, and Frances Tiafoe to enter the US Open 2022 finals, where he faced Casper Ruud yet again. For the second time in the year, the 19-year-old defeated the Norwegian to become the youngest Grand Slam winner.
