Jannik Sinner joins four tennis greats in achieving prestigious early-season feat

There can be no doubt that Jannik Sinner’s start to this season has been one for the ages.

The Italian, who now sits at a high of the second in the ATP Rankings has lost just once throughout the opening three months of the year, with three huge titles to his name.

Sinner memorably came from two sets down to beat Daniil Medvedev and claim his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, having dropped just one set on his way to the final.

By winning the second Masters 1000 title of his career at the Miami Open on Sunday, Sinner incredibly became just the fifth man since 2000 to win the Australian Open and then go on to win one of Indian Wells or Miami.

And it is fair to say he is in special company, with all of those to have done that previously being icons of the sport.

Andre Agassi – 2001, 2003

The first man to achieve that feat this century was American superstar Agassi, who claimed the third of his four Australian Open titles 24 years ago.

Agassi beat Frenchman Arnaud Clement in straight sets in the final to claim his seventh Grand Slam title and backed that up in some style.

That year Agassi completed the ‘Sunshine Double’, beating Pete Sampras to claim the Indian Wells title before seeing off Jan-Michael Gambill in the Miami final.

And when Agassi won his fourth and final Australian Open by beating Rainer Schuttler in 2003, he then went on to beat Carlos Moya to win in Miami for the sixth time.

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Roger Federer – 2004, 2006, 2017

Roger Federer won a hugely impressive six Australian Open crowns, and on three occasions went on to win at least one of Indian Wells or Miami.

The first of these occasions came shortly after Federer defeated Marat Safin to win his first Australian Open title in 2004, following on from that by beating Tim Henman to win Indian Wells.

After regaining the Norman Brookes Cup by beating Marcos Baghdatis in 2006 he then completed the ‘Sunshine Double’, beating James Blake and Ivan Ljubicic to win Indian Wells and Miami respectively.

Over a decade later the Swiss maestro achieved the feat yet again; after fending off Rafael Nadal to win an emotional fifth Australian Open title, he then beat Stan Wawrinka to reign supreme in Indian Wells before downing Nadal once again to win in Miami.

Rafael Nadal – 2009

Though perhaps most celebrated for his clay prowess, one of the highest points of the Spaniard’s career came through the early stages of 2009.

After beating Federer to win his first Wimbledon title the previous season, he again conquered his Swiss rival in a classic Australian Open final to win his first crown Down Under.

And less than two months later Nadal again reigned supreme, demolishing Andy Murray for the loss of just three games to win in Indian Wells.

However, he was never in fact able to win the title in Miami – one of the few titles that has eluded him.

Novak Djokovic – 2008, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016

As the greatest Australian Open champion in history, it should come as no surprise that Djokovic has achieved this feat on multiple occasions.

He won Indian Wells in 2008 and won the Miami Open title in 2012, beating Mardy Fish and Murray respectively in those finals.

But on a staggering three occasions, he has won the Australian Open and then won both halves of the prestigious double.

In 2011, 2015, and 2016 he won all three tournaments, cementing his place as perhaps the greatest hard-courter in history.