On This Day: Courier Wins First Sunshine Double, 1991

Due to the ongoing global health crisis surrounding COVID-19, professional tennis has announced a suspension of the 2020 competitive season through June 7. During this time, USTA.com is opening up our archives and taking a look back at memorable, monumental and notable moments in the history of American professional tennis that took place "on this day." 

On this day, 29 years ago, Jim Courier became the first player to achieve what's become an elite feat in tour-level tennis: winning the spring events in Indian Wells and Miami back-to-back.

Having turned professional in 1988, the rising Courier won his first ATP title in Basel, Switzerland in 1989, but had not appeared in a final in the 17 months since then as the 1991 season got underway. 

Seeded No. 16 at Indian Wells, the 20-year-old American beat three players seeded ahead of him en route to the final, which included a comeback 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 2 seed Andre Agassi in the third round—just his second win in the pair's first six meetings. 

What followed for Courier was a 6-2, 6-2 win over No. 7 seed Emilio Sanchez in the quarterfinals, and a 6-3, 6-2 win over No. 11 seed Michael Stitch in the semifinals, earning the American a berth in his second-ever ATP final.

In the final, Courier squared off against in-form No. 3 seed Guy Forget, who was looking to claim his third title of 1991 over the season's first three months. In the pair's first meeting, Courier rallied from two-sets-to-one down in the best-of-five-sets final to seal his fourth upset of the tournament, a 4–6, 6–3, 4–6, 6–3, 7–6 championship victory, which earned him the first of the two titles.

"This is without question the best week of tennis I've played," the American said after the victory. "This is a championship series event... It's a big honor for me to win here. Ever since the second set of that match [against Agassi], something inside clicked." 

In 2015, celebrating Indian Wells for the tournament's 40th anniversary, the Hall of Famer reflected on his first major achievement: "This is where a lot of it changed for me and my career. I won my first big tournament here in 1991... This tournament was a game-changer for a lot of players, and especially for me." 

Seeded No. 13 in Miami, Courier battled through three-set matches against Luis Herrera and Paul Haarhuis in his first two rounds, before knocking off Forget for the second time in the swing, 7-6, 6-3, to reach the last eight. Victories over Americans Derrick Rostagno and Richey Reneberg followed, before he rallied from a set down to beat unseeded compatriot David Wheaton, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4 and win the second event.

Indian Wells and Miami were two of three titles Courier won in 1991, as he reached five finals overall. In June, Courier beat Agassi to win his first Grand Slam title at the French Open, and later finished as runner-up at the US Open and ATP Finals. Having started the season outside the Top 20, Courier ended the year ranked world No. 2, and for his efforts, was named ATP Most Improved Player at the season's end. 

Since Courier first completed the feat in 1991, nine other players have gone on to win the "Sunshine Double" to date. Michael Chang followed suit in 1992, while Pete Sampras and Steffi Graf doubled up in 1994—making Graf the first woman to do so. Graf earned her second double in 1996, and Marcelo Rios finished off the decade in 1998 with his first, part of a dominant season where he won seven titles. 

In the new millenium, five more players have joined the illustrious list so far, beginning with Agassi in 2001. Kim Clijsters and Roger Federer followed in 2005, with the Swiss also doing so in 2006 and 2017. Novak Djokovic, to date, has accomplished the feat a record four times, in 2011, 2014, 2015 and 2016, while Victoria Azarenka also did so in 2016.