Pulling off the “Sunshine Double”—winning Indian Wells and Miami back-to-back—is one of the most impressive feats in tennis. Baseline is looking back at some of the rare accomplishments.
No Grand Slam titles in five years. A ranking lower than it’s been in more than a decade. Recent knee surgery that forced him to the sidelines. A year without a singles triumph for the first time since the dawn of the new millennium.
Add in the fact that he entered the 2017 season at the advanced age of 35, and the outlook could have hardly been grimmer on a return to form for Roger Federer.
Right from the start, though, the Swiss legend showed why he’s among the greatest players to ever touch a racquet. After beginning his campaign at the Hopman Cup, Federer entered the Australian Open as the 17th seed and would go on to win the tournament, defeating three of the top five players in the world in five-setters along the way for his 18th career Grand Slam title.
After suffering a surprise setback in Dubai, the world No. 10 turned his focus to Indian Wells, Calif., for the first Masters 1000 event of the year. In the desert, Federer was experiencing a drought similar to his prior Slam misfortunes, as it had been five years since his last victory at the tournament.