BGod
G.O.A.T.
The USO Triple Crown has only been accomplished 3 times (98 Rafter, 03 Roddick, 13 Nadal) but the AO Triple Crown has been accomplished 7 times. Here are the considerations:
1994-Pete Sampras
The first man to do this, Sampras beat two-time defending champ Courier and Todd Martin at the Australian. Indian Wells was only 5 rounds but the final was a Bo5 which Sampras was taken all the way by 14th seed Korda. He also beat Edberg and Muster who were ranked 4th and 11th. The Miami Open was 6 rounds again beating Kordan and Courier on route to a face-off with Agassi in a Bo3 Final although Agassi was coming back seeded 31st.
2001-Andre Agassi
The best player Agassi beat in his AO run was 15th seeded Patrick Rafter, although better than that #15 this was not Rafter's best or 2nd best surface. Agassi had to come back down 1-2 but did so convincingly and straight set Clement in the final. He played Indian Wells in a 6 round format beating 22nd seed Haas in the 2nd round, 8th seed Hewitt in the semis and straight setting 3rd seed Sampras in the final (Bo5). The 6 round Miami Open was Bo5 final this year however Agassi got a walkover against Haas and beat Rafter in the semis as by far the best opponent throughout (19th ranked Gambill was his finals opponent he beat 7-6, 6-1, 6-0).
2006-Roger Federer
Federer was the last guy to complete the Sunshine Double in Bo5 Finals although both were straight set finals against Ljubicic and Blake who he faced twice each between the two Masters, David Ferrer in Miami was the only other top ranked player. At the Australian, Roger was pushed in the last 4 rounds by Haas, Davydenko, Kiefer and Baghdatis however the Baghdatis win came as Marcos suffered a leg cramp that noticeably dimmed the Final and was ranked outside the Top 50 going in. Haas who took him to 5 was ranked 41st and Kiefer 25th after the tournament concluded.
2011-Novak Djokovic
Get ready because this is going to sound repetitive. Novak wins the AO dropping only 1 set, he beats 6th seed Berdych, 5th seed Murray and 2nd seed Federer on his way. He drops 2 sets at Indian Wells to #2 Federer and #1 Nadal in the last two rounds. He drops only 1 set in the final at Miami to #1 Nadal.
2015-Novak Djokovic
After his 5 set thrilling upset against Wawrinka in 2014 (where he also completed the sunshine double afterwards) Novak doesn't drop a set until the rematch in the semifinals. After dispatching 8th seed Raonic in straights he faces Stanimal now ranked 4th and Andy in the final ranked 6th after recovering from injury. He beats Stan in 5 and Andy in 4 but most impressive are the last set bagels he feeds the two men.
2016-Novak Djokovic
Facing 15th seed Simon in the 4th round, Novak gets taken to 5 but it's little contention afterwards. He dispatches 7th Nishikori in 3, 3rd Federer in 4 and 2nd seed Murray in straights. Indian Wells sees him drop his only set in the opening round and straight set everyone else included 5ths seed Nadal, 9 Tsonga and 14 Raonic. Miami is a clean sweep including wins over 15th, 14th, 7th and 6th seeds.
2017-Roger Federer
What make's Roger's run so daunting is he was going to face higher seeds earlier because of his own ranking of 17th. Berdyche seeded 10th in the 3rd round, straights. 5th seed Nishikori in the 4th round in 5 sets. Gets a reprieve with Mischa Zverev beating Murray and giving Fed an easy win. Then back to back marathons against Wawrinka and Nadal, the later of which he comes back down a break in the 5th. The follow-up in IW sees him with a clean sweep including against Nadal and Wawrinka but a walkover against Kyrgios. Miami Sees a lot of tiebreak sets, 7 of 14 played, but ultimately a success albeit the epic against Kyrgios in the semifinals 7-6(9), (9)6-7, 7-6(5) is the arguably the best match of the entire 3 tournament run (yes better than the Nadal AO get real).
1994-Pete Sampras
The first man to do this, Sampras beat two-time defending champ Courier and Todd Martin at the Australian. Indian Wells was only 5 rounds but the final was a Bo5 which Sampras was taken all the way by 14th seed Korda. He also beat Edberg and Muster who were ranked 4th and 11th. The Miami Open was 6 rounds again beating Kordan and Courier on route to a face-off with Agassi in a Bo3 Final although Agassi was coming back seeded 31st.
2001-Andre Agassi
The best player Agassi beat in his AO run was 15th seeded Patrick Rafter, although better than that #15 this was not Rafter's best or 2nd best surface. Agassi had to come back down 1-2 but did so convincingly and straight set Clement in the final. He played Indian Wells in a 6 round format beating 22nd seed Haas in the 2nd round, 8th seed Hewitt in the semis and straight setting 3rd seed Sampras in the final (Bo5). The 6 round Miami Open was Bo5 final this year however Agassi got a walkover against Haas and beat Rafter in the semis as by far the best opponent throughout (19th ranked Gambill was his finals opponent he beat 7-6, 6-1, 6-0).
2006-Roger Federer
Federer was the last guy to complete the Sunshine Double in Bo5 Finals although both were straight set finals against Ljubicic and Blake who he faced twice each between the two Masters, David Ferrer in Miami was the only other top ranked player. At the Australian, Roger was pushed in the last 4 rounds by Haas, Davydenko, Kiefer and Baghdatis however the Baghdatis win came as Marcos suffered a leg cramp that noticeably dimmed the Final and was ranked outside the Top 50 going in. Haas who took him to 5 was ranked 41st and Kiefer 25th after the tournament concluded.
2011-Novak Djokovic
Get ready because this is going to sound repetitive. Novak wins the AO dropping only 1 set, he beats 6th seed Berdych, 5th seed Murray and 2nd seed Federer on his way. He drops 2 sets at Indian Wells to #2 Federer and #1 Nadal in the last two rounds. He drops only 1 set in the final at Miami to #1 Nadal.
2015-Novak Djokovic
After his 5 set thrilling upset against Wawrinka in 2014 (where he also completed the sunshine double afterwards) Novak doesn't drop a set until the rematch in the semifinals. After dispatching 8th seed Raonic in straights he faces Stanimal now ranked 4th and Andy in the final ranked 6th after recovering from injury. He beats Stan in 5 and Andy in 4 but most impressive are the last set bagels he feeds the two men.
2016-Novak Djokovic
Facing 15th seed Simon in the 4th round, Novak gets taken to 5 but it's little contention afterwards. He dispatches 7th Nishikori in 3, 3rd Federer in 4 and 2nd seed Murray in straights. Indian Wells sees him drop his only set in the opening round and straight set everyone else included 5ths seed Nadal, 9 Tsonga and 14 Raonic. Miami is a clean sweep including wins over 15th, 14th, 7th and 6th seeds.
2017-Roger Federer
What make's Roger's run so daunting is he was going to face higher seeds earlier because of his own ranking of 17th. Berdyche seeded 10th in the 3rd round, straights. 5th seed Nishikori in the 4th round in 5 sets. Gets a reprieve with Mischa Zverev beating Murray and giving Fed an easy win. Then back to back marathons against Wawrinka and Nadal, the later of which he comes back down a break in the 5th. The follow-up in IW sees him with a clean sweep including against Nadal and Wawrinka but a walkover against Kyrgios. Miami Sees a lot of tiebreak sets, 7 of 14 played, but ultimately a success albeit the epic against Kyrgios in the semifinals 7-6(9), (9)6-7, 7-6(5) is the arguably the best match of the entire 3 tournament run (yes better than the Nadal AO get real).