From 2014 through 2017, the Sunshine Double was completed on the ATP Tour in four straight years. Novak Djokovic won back-to-back Masters 1000 tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami in 2014, 2015, and 2016. Roger Federer accomplished the same feat in 2017.
It hasn’t happened since.
And it’s very safe to say that a Sunshine Double will not happen in 2025. Jack Draper triumphed in the desert last weekend, but the BNP Paribas Open champion did not even survive his first match at the Miami Open. Draper lost to Jakub Mensik 7-6(2), 7-6(3) in one hour and 55 minutes on Saturday afternoon.
“The most important thing today was the serve–that was key,” said Mensik, who blasted 21 aces. “I knew in the second set it was going to be tough at the 30-all moments and in the tiebreak, so I just tried to stay focused. I’m super glad that I kept the focus until the end.
“Hopefully I will keep rising as I am. It is my first [full] year on the ATP Tour, so I am just enjoying every moment playing against these top guys. Jack has been playing incredibly the last weeks, months. I knew that it was an opportunity for me, so I took it.”
Draper wasn’t the only one who saw his Indian Wells success dry up in Miami. In fact, not a single semifinalist in Tennis Paradise won a single match in South Beach. Holger Rune lost to Reilly Opelka; Carlos Alcaraz lost to David Goffin; Daniil Medvedev lost to Jaume Munar.
Following setbacks for IW semifinalists Alcaraz and Medvedev on Friday, the finalists made their exits on Saturday. Shortly after Draper fell to Mensik, Rune was upset by Opelka in a third-set tiebreaker. The 6’11” American prevailed 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5) in two hours and three minutes while matching Mensik’s 21 ace count.
nice one, Mensik