The name Sunshine Double refers to the hot and humid conditions in California and Miami, where these two ATP 1000 Masters tournaments take place. Very few players have completed the Sunshine Double. Jim Courier (1991), Michael Chang (1992), Pete Sampras (1994), and Andre Agassi (2001), are just some of the names who completed it once in their careers. However, Roger Federer (2005, 2006, 2017) and Novak Djokovic (2011, 2014, 2015, 2016) are the only two players who have achieved this feat multiple times.
The context here is Roger Federer’s 2017 Sunshine Double win compared to Novak Djokovic’s 2016 Sunshine Doubles win. Federer won a combined $2.351 million in prize money for both of his titles in 2017. In comparison, Djokovic won $2.056 million for the same achievement a year earlier. This was one such occasion where Federer went past Djokovic in terms of prize money winnings.
2017 turned out to be extra special for Federer. It was his comeback year in more ways than one, and what an emphatic comeback it was! Federer won two Grand Slams – the Australian Open and the Wimbledon. And to top it off, he won the Indian Wells and the Miami Open, two big Masters events.
At Indian Wells, Federer had a pretty indomitable tour, right from the second round. He entered as the 9th-seeded player and faced his toughest opponent i.e. Rafael Nadal in the fourth round. Federer won that match quite comfortably by 6-2, 6-3. He then got a walkover against Nick Kyrgios in the quarter-final and beat Jack Sock 6-1, 7-6 (7-4) in the semi-final. In the final, he beat Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 7-5. He won $1,175,505 prize money for winning this.
Federer carried this stellar form into the Miami Open a month later and started his campaign with a win against Frances Tiafoe. Juan Martin Del Potro and Roberto Bautista Agut were his next opponents, and Federer continued on his merry way of winning. In the quarter-final, he beat Tomas Berdych 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), and met Nick Kyrgios again, this time in the semi-final.
This time, Federer didn’t get a walkover, and every single set in their match went into tiebreakers. Federer beat Kyrgios 7-6 (11-9), 6-7 (9-11), 7-6 (7-5). In the final, Roger Federer met his arch-nemesis Rafael Nadal, whom he beat quite comfortably by 6-3, 6-4. At the Miami Open 2017, he got $1,175,505 prize money too for winning.
The year 2016 was equally great for Novak Djokovic. This was the 3rd consecutive successful Indian Wells campaign for Djokovic, who had won in 2014 and 2015 as well. As the No.1 seed, Djokovic beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarter-final, before winning 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 in the semi-final against Rafael Nadal. In he final, he obliterated Milos Raonic by 6-2, 6-0. For this, Djokovic won $1,028,300 in prize money.
Djokovic carried his unreal form into the Miami Open, where he also won for the third consecutive time. Djokovic beat Dominic Thiem 6-3, 6-4 in the fourth round, before beating Tomas Berdych 6-3, 6-3 in the quarter-final. He won 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 in the semi-final against David Goffin, and finally won 6-3, 6-3 against Kei Nishikori in the final. Djokovic won $1,028,300 as well in prize money for this tournament.
Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer had made the Indian Wells and Miami Masters their forte
The Sunshine Doubles i.e. Indian Wells and Miami Masters are two of the biggest tennis tournaments after the Grand Slams. Players from all across the globe congregate here to win these ATP 1000 Masters titles. And yet, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, two of the Big Three players, remain the most dominating presence in both these ATP events.
Federer and Djokovic have won the most number of Indian Wells titles i.e. 5 each. In the Miami Masters, Djokovic won the tournament 6 times, whereas Federer won it 4 times.
Overall in career, Djokovic has $181,599,018 in prize money earnings from his tennis career, and he isn’t even retired. Federer, on the other hand, has earned $130,594,339 in prize money from his two-decades-long tennis career. The difference is somewhere around $50 million USD more for Djokovic as of March 2024.
