Taylor Townsend, Katerina Siniakova capture The Sunshine Double

MIAMI GARDENS — In South Florida, doubles is king. On the WTA and ATP tour, doubles can seem like an afterthought. So it’s only appropriate Taylor Townsend , who spent her teen years in Boca Raton, has become arguably the best doubles player in the world.

Another milestone was reached March 29 at the Miami Open . Townsend, a 29-year-old lefthander, and her partner and newest best friend, Katerina Siniakova captured the Miami Open, putting the finishing touches on The Sunshine Double. More tennis: Coco Gauff falls to Aryna Sabalenka in Miami Open championship match It is the first women’s doubles team since 2019 to notch the Sunshine Double, which is stringing together back-to-back titles at March’s premier Indian Wells and Miami Open tournaments.

In a rain-interrupted match that forced them to move from jam-packed Hard Rock Stadium to the smaller grandstand court to make way for the men’s singles finals, Townsend-Siniakova beat the No. 1 seeds from Italy, Sara Errani/ Jasmine Paolini 7-6 (7-0), 6-1. No matter it was done before a much-smaller audience.

They did it 40 minutes from where Townsend learned the game. “We're making history together (smiling),’’ Taylor said in her press conference. “It's nice to do something new, but it means a lot to me.