Sunshine Double Standouts: Bryans finally sweep

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.

From their first triumph in 2001 to the end of 2012, Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan won more than 80 titles together, with their haul including a career Grand Slam, Olympic Gold, a Davis Cup championship and Masters 1000 crowns from around the world.

One place they struggled to break through, surprisingly, was on their home turf.

The native Californians came up short at the first Masters event on the calendar, Indian Wells, for years before finally breaking through in 2013. Having started the season with a win at the Australian Open, the twins would go on to win the next two majors—completing their second career Slam in the process—and claim another four Masters titles.

Their best season to date only raised the bar for 2014. However, they got off to a slow start with a surprise early loss in their first event of the year in Sydney, along with two defeats at the hands of Eric Butorac and Raven Klaasen in Melbourne and Memphis. The Bryans righted the ship in Delray Beach, Fla., by winning their first event of the season there and entered Indian Wells with some momentum. Once there, they showed that any past hiccups were flukes: With stellar play throughout the tournament, the American pair defended the title.

From there, it was on to Florida for only their second career crack at completing the Sunshine Double. The year prior, they lost in the first round in Miami after getting the Indian Wells monkey off their back. This time, though, the duo was dominant from start to finish as they took every match in straight sets to win their third event in a row—part of what would go on to be a six-tournament winning streak.

And with so many accomplishments over their storied careers, they’d have one more: a first Sunshine Double.