Sinner aims for Sunshine Double at rainy Miami Open, Wednesday was a washout
It has been an exciting year so far for Yannik Sinner and the Italian world No. 2 hopes to keep the good fortune going this week at the Miami Open, a tournament he won in 2024 but missed last year while serving a three-month drug suspension.
He arrived in South Florida to find rainy and unseasonably chilly weather after a sizzling 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-4) victory over Daniil Medvedev in the Indian Wells final in sunny, 92-degree weather over the weekend.
Sinner, who is expected to play his opening match on Saturday, squeezed in a practice session on Tuesday, but a constant drizzle on Wednesday canceled all matches and practices for the day and night, wreaking havoc with the schedule, which was already behind after a complete washout of qualifying round matches on Sunday.
A revised schedule will be posted on the tournament website. The Wednesday evening lineup included wild card Venus Williams and Francesca Jones and Alexandre Muller and Matteo Berrettini.
He said he tries to “switch off mentally” during rain delays and manage his eating, making sure not to eat to much or too little, which would disrupt his routine. On Wednesday, he was in good spirits, awaiting a break in the rain to hit some balls.
“Obviously, it was a great, great tournament out there [in Indian Wells], and now we try to get some practice sessions in,” he said on Wednesday. “Let’s see if the weather allows us. But I’m happy to be here. It is a tournament I missed last year and the last one before clay, an important tournament.”
He is aiming to win the elusive “Sunshine Double’’, back-to-back trophies at the Indian Wells desert and the Miami Open tropics. Only seven men have done it, and the last was Roger Federer in 2017. Novak Djokovic holds the record with four Sunshine Doubles in 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016.
Sinner, 24, is in top form after his run at Indian Wells.
He became just the third man in history to complete the set of six ATP Masters 1000 hard-court titles, joining Djokovic and Federer.
By not dropping a set in California, Sinner also became the first man to win consecutive Masters 1000 titles without losing a set since the series began in 1990, following his flawless run in Paris last November. He rallied from 0-4 in the second-set tiebreak against Medvedev and won seven points in a row to seal the win.
Sinner also closed the rankings gap with top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz. He is 2,150 points behind the Spaniard and a deep run at the Miami Open will get him even closer.
Sinner is the highest ranked Italian men’s player in history and first Italian man to win a Grand Slam singles title in nearly a half century. The last Italian man to win a Grand Slam singles title before him was Adriano Panatta at the 1976 French Open.
He grew up in the German-speaking part of the Italian Alps. His parents worked at a ski lodge where his father, Johann, was a chef and his mother, Siglinde, was a waitress. Jannik was a promising ski racer before choosing tennis.
He said he followed the recent Winter Olympics in Milan/Cortina closely, especially the ski racing.
“I did follow basically every race,” he said. “I tried to arrange my schedule a little bit based on what races I would like to see. And it was great because the week before the races it snowed, so it had a snow feeling, and from a spectator point of view it was better. It was a huge success, talking from an Italian point of view.
“It was amazing, very important for Italy. I was in Milan the couple of days before the Opening Ceremony and you could see the energy changing. And the Italians had great, great success. Italians were very happy.”
Aryna Sabalenka, the women’s top-ranked player, also won at Indian Wells and is seeking the Sunshine Double. The newly-engaged Belarusian has a home in Miami and trains in South Florida when she is not on tour.
“I guess a couple espresso martinis, probably, and Five Guys to go,” Sabalenka said after winning the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells on Sunday. “Basically, that’s why I’m never in good shape. And that’s it, because the schedule is really tight and we’re on to the next one. I cannot relax too much, because I’m defending champion there, and also, it’s Miami.
“I love being there, playing there, so I want to do well there, as well. So, I will try to stay loose but focused. I guess it’s going into the balancing everything, so I will try to balance it the best way possible.”
Only four women have achieved the Sunshine Double: Steffi Graf (1994, 1996), Kim Clijsters (2005), Victoria Azarenka (2016) and Iga Swiatek (2022).
Three years ago, Elena Rybakina came close. She won in Indian Wells and reached the Miami final but lost to Petra Kvitova in a 16-14 tiebreak and ultimately fell short 7-6 (14), 6-2.
This story was originally published March 18, 2026 at 4:45 PM.