Former WTA pro Andrea Petkovic made a surprising claim about Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka’s hopes of completing a Sunshine Double. Sinner and Sabalenka won the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells on Sunday and will now compete at the Miami Open, which is the final tournament of the Sunshine Swing.
Petkovic’s comments came during the latest episode of the Big T podcast on the Tennis Channel, where the German, alongside Emma Raducanu’s coach Mark Petchey, discussed the highlights of the 1000 event at Indian Wells and their bold predictions for the Masters event in Miami.
“Well, listen, I actually think both of them, with their playing styles, have done the hard part. The easier tournament for them to win, strictly game style speaking, is the Miami Open because it’s quicker, the bounce is slower, which is what they usually prefer; they can hit through the court bigger,” Petkovic said.
“But again, the difficulty about winning the sunshine double is traveling so late to a tournament without many more days to adapt. I think that’s going to be the big question mark, where will they be in terms of energy, in terms of recovery, but generally speaking, they have won the more difficult tournament in my opinion, according to their game style,” she added.
Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka Aim To Join Elite List Of Players By Completing Sunshine Double
Winning both the Indian Wells Open and Miami Open in the same calendar year is not an easy feat. But then again, over the years, some great names in men’s and women’s tennis have managed to do so, with some achieving the feat multiple times in their illustrious careers.
Jannik Sinner will aim to repeat the feat earlier achieved by Novak Djokovic (four times), Roger Federer (thrice), Jim Courier, Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Marcelo Rios, and Michael Chang. Similarly, Aryna Sabalenka will aim to enter the Sunshine Swing history books alongside Steffi Graf (twice), Kim Clijsters, Victoria Azarenka, and Iga Swiatek.
Only 11 players in the history of the sport have completed the Sunshine Double, and now the Italian and the Belarusian will attempt to achieve the famed feat as they begin their journey in Miami with R2 matches on Thursday.
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