How Does Jannik Sinner winning the 2026 Sunshine Double Compare With Roger Federer in 2017?

In winning both the Masters events in Indian Wells and Miami, Jannik Sinner has become the first man in nearly a decade to win “The Sunshine Double”. But how does his achievement compare with that of the last man to do it – Roger Federer in 2017?

How does Jannik Sinner’s 2026 Sunshine Double Compare With Roger Federer’s in 2017?

Two Major Points of Comparison

There are two major points of comparison between the two men’s Sunshine Doubles: first, the importance of their serve; and, secondly, the dominance they displayed during their historic runs.

1. Sinner and Federer’s Precision Serving

The obvious point of comparison between Sinner in 2026 and Federer in 2017 is in the sheer precision of their serving. And the moment of maximum comparison came early on in the 2026 Miami final, when Sinner, having just broken Czech opponent Jiri Lehecka to go 2-1 up in the first set, immediately went 0-40 down on his own serve. What followed was genuinely Federer-esque, at least in the serving department, as Sinner produced no fewer than five virtually millimetre-perfect serves to go 3-1 up. And he never really looked back as he went on to win the match 6-4 6-4.

That one game right at the start of the Miami final was perhaps the best demonstration of how Sinner’s serve has improved out of all recognition over the last two and a half years. The addition of Darren Cahill to his coaching staff, which came at roughly the same time, surely being a huge contributing factor to that improvement.

It is also eerily reminiscent of how Federer improved what was already an extraordinary serve in the last “Golden Age” of his career, from 2017 to 2018, during which he won his last three Majors (two Australian Opens and one Wimbledon title). Having had to sit out the second half of the 2016 season through injury, which was the first major lay-off of his career, Federer returned in 2017 with a vastly improved serve and backhand, both of which were crucial in his subsequent victory at three Slams.

1. A Similar Level of Dominance on The Sunshine Swing

In both 2026 and 2017, Sinner and Federer both totally dominated the Sunshine Swing of the ATP Tour, winning the two Masters tournaments back to back and in the process perhaps playing the best tennis that they had ever played in their careers up to that point.

In 2026, Sinner came into the Sunshine Swing after his worst start to the season in three years. In both 2024 and 2025, he had won the Australian Open, but his hopes of winning a hat-trick of titles in Melbourne ended after losing his epic semifinal to Novak Djokovic in January. He then suffered a shock defeat to Jakub Mensik in the quarterfinal in Qatar and consequently arrived in California in March in what for him was a relative trough of form.

However, having found his best form again almost instantly at Indian Wells, Sinner has been utterly superb on the first part of the 2026 US hard court swing (with the second part to follow in the run-up to the US Open in September). He won both Indian Wells and Miami without losing a single set, which, having won the Paris Masters last November in similarly dominant fashion, means that he has now not only matched Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in winning three Masters tournaments in a row but exceeded them by doing so without losing a set en route.

In 2017, Federer was similarly all-conquering on the US hard courts in the spring. He did not lose a single set in any match at Indian Wells, including the final against his compatriot Stan Wawrinka, which he won 6-4 7-5. And although he had a much tougher time before triumphing in Miami, notably having to save two match-points in the quarter-final against Tomas Berdych, he reasserted his dominance in the final, when he comfortably beat Rafael Nadal 6-4 6-3.

Two Major Points of Contrast

However, for all the similarities between their dominant displays in 2026 and 2017 respectively, there are at least two major differences between Sinner and Federer’s Sunshine Doubles.

1. Style

Jannik Sinner and Roger Federer may have achieved equally dominant Sunshine Doubles, but there were also major differences between the two, notably in the ever-contentious style department. Nearly half a decade on from his retirement, Roger Federer remains arguably the gold-standard of aesthetic achievement in all sport and not just tennis. His graceful movement on court remains unmatched, even if both Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have gone on to win more Majors, and Carlos Alcaraz has suggested that he is a 21^st-century “Federer on steroids” (i.e. with more physical strength and faster pace of shot).

In complete contrast, few would argue that Sinner is among the most stylish men ever to play tennis. Perhaps as a legacy of his brilliant junior ski-ing career, he remains curiously upright on a tennis court, with little of the grace and fluidity of movement that Federer always seemed to display. Indeed, by his own admission (on court in Miami in a post-match interview) he is more robotic than artistic in style, and perhaps in temperament as well.

As one observer put it in a message to me during the Miami final: “I recognise Sinner’s absolute supremacy. But I don’t enjoy his matches. Too one-sided, too clinical, zero emotion. Lendl reborn.” Whether or not one enjoys watching his matches, in terms of style and temperament, he certainly has more in common with the Czech than the Swiss.

1. Stage of Career

The biggest difference between Federer’s 2017 Sunshine Double and Sinner’s in 2026 is where they have come in the two men’s careers. When Federer won in Miami in 2017, he actually completed the third Sunshine Double of his career. However, the first two had come right at the start of his career, in 2005 and 2006, so it was over a decade before he completed the hat-trick. And that Miami triumph in particular might just have represented the absolute high-point of his career, when he was playing the best tennis he ever played.

By contrast, Sinner is much nearer the start of his career than the end. Nevertheless, his 2026 Sunshine Double is yet another historic achievement in that career. And perhaps most importantly, it represents the latest ratcheting-up in his phenomenal tennis “arms race” with Carlos Alcaraz.

In 2017, Federer followed up his Sunshine Double by actually removing himself completely from the ATP Tour. To try and protect his body, which by then was entering its 36^th year, he did not take part at all in the main European clay-court season, even skipping the French Open. And that decision paid off triumphantly as he went on to win his eighth Wimbledon title, which to this day makes him the greatest ever male grass-court player.

For Sinner in 2026, having just won the Sunshine Double, he will not be withdrawing from the tour but doubling down all his efforts on it, especially as the European clay-court season begins in Monte-Carlo next week. Last year, he had to miss virtually all of the European clay-court season because of his doping ban, only returning for his home tournament in Rome. This season, with virtually no points to defend from the European clay in 2025, he will have every incentive to try and catch Carlos Alcaraz at the top of the world rankings.

And he will be laser-focused on trying to win the French Open, not only to avenge his heart-breaking loss to Alcaraz in last year’s final but to try and complete the Career Grand Slam of winning all four Majors, which, of course, Alcaraz achieved at the start of this year. If Federer in 2017 was intent on winning an eighth and final Wimbledon to break the record he shared at the time with Pete Sampras and Victorian great William Renshaw, in 2026 Sinner only has eyes for a first French title. And if he can follow Federer’s lead from 2017, just as he has in winning the Sunshine Double this year, he has every chance of achieving it.