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Flavia Pennetta

Flavia Pennetta (born 25 February 1982) is an Italian former professional tennis player. She became Italy's first top-ten female singles player on 17 August 2009 and the first Italian to be ranked world No. 1 in doubles, on 28 February 2011. She is a major champion, having won the 2011 Australian Open women's doubles title with Gisela Dulko, and the 2015 US Open singles title over childhood friend Roberta Vinci in the first all-Italian major final.

Pennetta won ten other WTA singles titles, including the 2014 Indian Wells Open, where she defeated the top two seeds. She also was a mainstay in the Fed Cup team competition, helping Italy win four titles in 2006, 2009, 2010, and 2013. Her other highlights in doubles include winning the 2010 WTA Finals with Dulko and finishing runner-up at the 2005 and 2014 US Open tournaments, partnering respectively with Elena Dementieva and Martina Hingis.

After winning the 2015 US Open, Pennetta announced she would retire at the end of the season, playing her last tournament at her WTA Finals singles debut. There, she defeated eventual champion Agnieszka Radwańska in the round-robin stage and retired with a top-ten singles ranking.

Pennetta was pronounced a Knight of Order of Merit of the Republic on 24 January 2007 by Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, then President of Italy.

Early years
Pennetta was introduced to tennis at the age of five by her father. At age 17, she won the 1999 French Open in girls' doubles with fellow Italian Roberta Vinci.

Pennetta began to play on the ITF Women's Circuit in 1997. The following year, she lost in the second round of her first qualifying tournament for a WTA Tour main draw, the Internazionali Femminili di Palermo. In 1999, Pennetta won two singles titles and two doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. She was unsuccessful in her several attempts to qualify for WTA Tour main draws in 2000. The following year, she limited her play to the ITF Circuit.

She played her first WTA Tour main-draw match at the Cellular South Cup in 2002, when she lost in the first round. She also lost in the first round in Palermo, but reached the second round of the Idea Prokom Open in Sopot. Her ranking reached the top 100 for the first time on 23 September 2002, when she reached No. 100.

2003
In 2003, Pennetta lost in the semifinals of the Hyderabad Open to eventual champion Tamarine Tanasugarn. She also reached the quarterfinals at the Canberra Women's Classic, Copa Colsanitas, and Abierto Mexicano Telcel. She debuted in the main draws of all four Grand Slam tournaments. Her best result was the third round of the Roland Garros, where she defeated 21st-seeded American Lisa Raymond in the second round, before losing to Hungary's Petra Mandula.

2004: First WTA title
Pennetta started the year at the Tier V Canberra Classic, where she lost in the quarterfinals to Julia Vakulenko. At the Australian Open, she lost in the first round to Italian Antonella Serra Zanetti in straight sets.

Pennetta then lost in the first round of both the Cellular South Cup in Memphis, Tennessee and the Copa Colsanitas in Bogotá, Colombia. These losses were followed by her first WTA Tour final at the Mexicano Open in Acapulco, where she was defeated by Iveta Benešová.

She played both of the Tier I springtime hardcourt tournaments in the United States. She beat Ľudmila Cervanová in the first round of the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells before losing to Maria Sharapova. She then lost in the first round of qualifying for the NASDAQ-100 Open in Key Biscayne. Returning to clay courts, Pennetta lost in the second round of two consecutive WTA tournaments, the Morocco Open in Casablanca and the Portugal Open in Estoril. At the Budapest Grand Prix, Pennetta lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Jelena Janković in straight sets. She then defeated world No. 6, Nadia Petrova, in the second round of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome before falling to world No. 21, Anna Smashnova, in the third round. At the French Open, Pennetta lost in the first round, once more to Smashnova in straight sets. In the first grass-court tournament of her career, she defeated Marion Bartoli in the first round of the DFS Classic in Birmingham, before losing to world No. 32, Alicia Molik, in the second round. Pennetta achieved the same result at the Ordina Open, falling to world No. 85, Barbara Schett. At Wimbledon, she was beaten by Petrova in the first round, in three sets. In July, she played yet another clay-court tournament, where she was beaten in the final of the Internazionali di Palermo by Anabel Medina Garrigues. Returning to hardcourts for the first time since April, she lost to Henrieta Nagyová in the first round of the Nordic Light Open in Stockholm. The following week at the clay-court tournament in Sopot, Poland, Pennetta won her first WTA Tour title, defeating Klára Koukalová in the final. Pennetta then lost to former world No. 1, Lindsay Davenport, in the quarterfinals of the Cincinnati Open, and to world No. 25, Magdalena Maleeva, in the first round of the US Open, 6–2, 4–6, 4–6. Pennetta played four tournaments the remainder of the year. At the Wismilak International in Bali, Pennetta lost in the second round to eventual quarterfinalist Gisela Dulko. She then fell to María Vento-Kabchi in the first round of the China Open in Beijing and to Tamarine Tanasugarn in the second round of the Guangzhou International Open. In her final event of the year, she lost to world No. 14, Ai Sugiyama, in the second round of the Zurich Open, in two sets.

2005: Top-30 appearance, first Grand Slam final in doubles
In Pennetta's first event of the year, she reached the quarterfinals of the Brisbane International losing to Tatiana Golovin in three sets. She then lost in the first rounds of the Australian Open and the Open Gaz de France. In the next two weeks she won two titles in a row, the first one Copa Colsanitas defeating Lourdes Domínguez Lino in the finals, 7–6, 6–4, and the second one in the Mexican Open, defeating Ľudmila Cervanová in three sets. Pennetta lost early in her next tournaments. The second rounds of the Pacific Life Open, the German Open and the Rome Masters. She also lost in the first round of the Estoril Open and the third rounds of the Miami Masters and the French Open. She bounced back in the Wimbledon Championships by reaching the fourth round losing to Mary Pierce in straight sets and the semifinals of both the Internazionali di Modena and the Internazionali Femminili di Palermo which were held in Italy. She followed it up with losses to Japanese players Akiko Morigami in San Diego Classic and Aiko Nakamura in LA Championships. In the Rogers Cup she was crushed by eventual champion Kim Clijsters 6–0, 6–1. In the US Open she was upset by German Julia Schruff in the first round. She also lost early in the China Open in the first round and the Kremlin Cup in the second round to eventual champion Mary Pierce. She ended the year with quarterfinal appearances in the Wismilak International, the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, and the Zurich Open. She ended the year ranked No. 23 in the world.

2006
Flavia had a good start to the 2006 season, finishing runner-up at Gold Coast against Lucie Šafářová. At Sydney, she was defeated by Li Na in the first round. Going into the Australian Open, Pennetta defeated Cara Black and Martina Suchá, before falling to Nicole Vaidišová in the third round. At Paris, she was upset by rising star Sania Mirza in two sets.

Pennetta started to pick up her pace as the season went on, with two runner-up showings at Bogotá and Acapulco, losing to Lourdes Domínguez Lino and Anna-Lena Grönefeld, respectively.

2007
Pennetta begun 2007 with three first-round loses at Gold Coast, Hobart and the Australian Open, falling to Maria Kirilenko, Aiko Nakamura and Kaia Kanepi, respectively.

Her next two tournaments went well, as she has a semifinal showing at Bogotá (falling to Roberta Vinci) and made it all the way to the final of Acapulco, where she lost to Émilie Loit. Then she lost four straight matches at Indian Wells, Miami, Amelia Island and Charleston. She managed to take a win from Arantxa Parra Santonja at Estoril before getting overpowered by Gisela Dulko. Then came another streak of first-round losses – at Berlin, Rome, and the French Open.

At Barcelona, Flavia made it to the semifinals, where she was beaten by Meghann Shaughnessy. Then at 's-Hertogenbosch, she defeated Karin Knapp and Tatjana Malek to make it to the quarterfinals, where she lost to Dinara Safina. She was eliminated in the first round of the Wimbledon Championships.

She made it to the semifinals of Biella, falling to Agnieszka Radwańska.

2008: First Grand Slam quarterfinal, top-20 appearance
Pennetta started the year by losing in the second round of the Australian Hardcourts in Gold Coast to Dinara Safina. Pennetta then reached the semifinals of the Hobart International, where she lost to eventual champion Eleni Daniilidou. At the Australian Open, she defeated Dominika Cibulková in the first round but fell to the 30th-seeded Virginie Razzano in the second round. Pennetta then played for Italy's Fed Cup team versus Spain. She played one singles match versus Anabel Medina Garrigues and lost. Pennetta won her first title of the year at the Cachantún Cup in Viña del Mar, Chile, defeating Klára Zakopalová in the final. However, she lost in the first round of the Copa Colsanitas to Betina Jozami. Pennetta then won her second title of the year at the Acapulco Open, beating Alizé Cornet in the final.

As the 30th seed, Pennetta received a bye in the first round of the Pacific Life Open. She then defeated Kaia Kanepi in the second round, but was defeated by fellow Italian Francesca Schiavone in the third round. She also fell to defending champion Serena Williams at the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne in the third round. Pennetta then lost in the second round of the Estoril Open to Iveta Benešová. She defeated Olga Savchuk in the first round of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome before losing to defending champion Jelena Janković in the second round. She then withdrew from her quarterfinal match against Medina Garrigues at the Internationaux de Strasbourg. At the French Open, Pennetta defeated eighth-seeded Venus Williams in the third round, before losing to Carla Suárez Navarro in the fourth round.

Pennetta lost in the first round of her first tournament on grass at the Ordina Open, to Sania Mirza. She then defeated Julia Vakulenko in the first round of Wimbledon, before losing to Ai Sugiyama in the second round. She then played at the Internazionali di Palermo and lost to eventual champion Sara Errani in the semifinals. Pennetta then lost in the final of the East West Bank Classic in Los Angeles to Dinara Safina. At the following tournament, the Rogers Cup, she was defeated by a qualifier, Michelle Larcher de Brito, in the second round. She was then the part of the Italian Olympic team at the Summer Olympics in Beijing; however, lost to Kaia Kanepi in the first round. Pennetta also reached the second round of the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament in New Haven. At the US Open, she defeated Stefanie Vögele in the first round, Peng Shuai and former world No. 3 Nadia Petrova in the second and the third round, and former world No. 1, Amélie Mauresmo, in the fourth round, before losing to Safina in the quarterfinals. It was Pennetta's best singles performance at a Grand Slam tournament then.

Pennetta then reached the quarterfinals of Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic in Bali, losing to eventual runner-up Tamira Paszek. At the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, she lost in the quarterfinals to former world No. 1, Jelena Janković. Pennetta then lost to Kateryna Bondarenko in the first round of the Porsche Grand Prix; to world No. 1 Janković in the quarterfinals of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow; and to Venus Williams in the final of the Zurich Open. At her last tournament of the year, the Linz Open, Pennetta defeated Ágnes Szávay in the first round and Dominika Cibulková in the second round before losing to former world No. 1 and eventual champion, Ana Ivanovic, in the quarterfinals.

2009: Continued success
Pennetta played her first tournament of the year at the Hobart International (actually it was at the Hopman Cup), where she was the top seed. She defeated Shahar Pe'er in the first round and then fell to Magdaléna Rybáriková in the second round. Pennetta was the thirteenth seed at the Australian Open, where she lost in the third round to Anabel Medina Garrigues. Pennetta then played for Italy's Fed Cup team in the Fed Cup World Group stage versus France. Italy won 5–0. Pennetta won both her singles matches over Amélie Mauresmo and Alizé Cornet. At her first tournament of the year on clay, the Copa Sony Ericsson Colsanitas in Bogotá, Pennetta fell to Maša Zec Peškirič in the first round. She reached the final of the Mexican Open for the sixth straight year but lost to Venus Williams in two sets. Returning to hard courts at the Monterrey Open, Pennetta lost to Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová in the second round. She was the 15th seed at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, the first Premier Mandatory event of the year, and lost in the fourth round to eventual runner-up Ana Ivanovic in a three-set match. Pennetta lost in the third round of the Miami Open in Key Biscayne, another Premier Mandatory event, to Mauresmo.

Pennetta then played a series of clay-court events in preparation for the French Open. She lost to fellow Italian Roberta Vinci in the second round of the Barcelona Open. She then played two matches for Italy's Fed Cup team in the World Group semifinals versus reigning champion Russia. She defeated Anna Chakvetadze and lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova, but the final result was 4–1 in favor of Italy. This will be the second Fed Cup final for Pennetta. The following week, she reached the semifinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart beating two top-ten players, Jelena Janković and Nadia Petrova, but fell to world No. 1 player Dinara Safina, in three sets. At the Italian Open in Rome, a Premier-5 event, Pennetta lost in the third round to Kuznetsova, 0–6 in the third set. The following week, she was upset by Ágnes Szávay in the first round of the Madrid Open, the third Premier-Mandatory event of the year, losing in three sets. Pennetta, seeded 11th, lost in the first round of the 2009 French Open to Alexa Glatch. At Wimbledon, she advanced to the third round where she was ousted by the No. 17, Amélie Mauresmo, in straight sets. Pennetta then played on her home soil in Palermo, defeating Sara Errani in the final in two sets. She and partner Vinci advanced to the semifinals in doubles. On the hard courts of Los Angeles, Pennetta upset Vera Zvonareva en route to the semifinals where she would be extended to three sets by Maria Sharapova. In her second consecutive final at the event, she defeated Samantha Stosur in two sets. At Cincinnati, a Premier-5 event, she extended her winning streak to 15 matches, maintaining an impressive record against Venus Williams, whom she beat in two sets. By virtue of her defeat over Daniela Hantuchová in the quarterfinals, she rose into the top ten for the first time in her career, the first Italian woman ever to do so. Her run ended after a straight sets defeat against world No. 1, Dinara Safina, in the semifinals.

Pennetta was seeded 12th at Toronto but lost to Virginie Razzano in the second round. At her next tournament at New Haven, she lost in the semifinals to Caroline Wozniacki. Pennetta started the US Open with a win over Edina Gallovits in two sets. In the second round, she double-bageled Sania Mirza 6–0, 6–0. She advanced to the fourth round after a straight-sets victory against Aleksandra Wozniak. She played Vera Zvonareva in the fourth round, and saved four match points at her serve at 5–6 in the second set; and then saved another two in the second set tie-break, before winning the final set to love. She was defeated by Serena Williams in the quarterfinals in straight sets. After the US Open, Pennetta lost again to Roberta Vinci in the first round of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. At the China Open, she made the quarterfinal, losing to Zvonareva, 5–7 in the third set. As the top seed at Generali Ladies Linz tournament, Pennetta lost in the semifinals to third seed Yanina Wickmayer in straight sets. In the following week, she was forced to retire at with a knee injury in the opening round.

2010: Doubles success
Pennetta started her season at the Auckland Open as the No. 1 seed where she defeated Jill Craybas, Carla Suárez Navarro, Dominika Cibulková, and Francesca Schiavone in the semifinals. She lost to third seed Yanina Wickmayer. In the Medibank International, she notched up two top-20 wins over Sam Stosur and Li Na, before losing to unseeded Aravane Rezaï in the quarterfinals. At the first Grand Slam of the year, Pennetta was the 12th seed. In the opening round, she defeated former top-ten player Anna Chakvetadze, before falling in the second round to qualifier and world No. 16, Yanina Wickmayer. The loss was her third consecutive straight-set loss to Wickmayer. Pennetta was selected for Italy's first Fed Cup tie against Ukraine. She won both her singles matches in straight sets against the Bondarenko sisters to set up a 4–1 away victory in the tie. Pennetta received a wildcard into Open GDF Suez in Paris where she was the 2nd seed. After receiving a first-round bye she defeated Alisa Kleybanova and Tathiana Garbin to reach the semifinals, where she fell in three sets to Lucie Šafářová.

At the Dubai Championships, Pennetta advanced to the third round, losing to seventh seed Agnieszka Radwańska. She was forced to withdraw from the Abierto Mexicano due to a hip injury. Pennetta suffered two early upset defeats at the two Premier events, Indian Wells Open and Miami Open. After receiving first-round byes, Pennetta lost in the third round of Indian Wells to Shahar Pe'er and in the second round of Miami to Andrea Petkovic. Despite her poor singles result in Miami, Pennetta was able to win the doubles title in Miami partnering with Gisela Dulko and defeating Sam Stosur and Nadia Petrova in the final. At the Andalucia Tennis Experience, Pennetta won her first title of the year advancing to the finals without dropping a set and defeating Carla Suárez Navarro in the final.

At the French Open, Pennetta was seeded 14th. She defeated Anne Keothavong, Roberta Vinci, and Polona Hercog in the first three rounds. She was eliminated by third seed Caroline Wozniacki in the round of 16. However, her performance moved her ranking back into the top 10, matching her career-high of world No. 10. This, in combination with countrywoman's Francesca Schiavone winning the French Open, meant that in the week of 7 June 2010, two Italian woman were in the top ten (Schiavone at world No. 6) at the same time for the first time. Pennetta was seeded 10th at Wimbledon where she advanced to the third round and fell to Klára Zakopalová. She was seeded fifth at the San Diego Open. In the quarterfinals, she defeated Sam Stosur before she fell to Svetlana Kuznetsova.

2011: Australian Open doubles title, No. 1 ranking
Pennetta began her year at the Sydney International, where in her first match she defeated qualifier Lucie Hradecká. In the second round, Flavia went on to defeat world No. 2, Vera Zvonareva, in a tough match. She went on to lose to Bojana Jovanovski in the quarterfinals.

At the Australian Open, Pennetta won her first-round match against Anastasia Rodionova. In her second-round match, she defeated Lourdes Domínguez Lino before Pennetta came up victorious against Shahar Pe'er in a three-set battle, in which she rallied from deficits several times. She lost to Czech player Petra Kvitová in the fourth round. She did, however, capture her first career Grand Slam doubles title in the doubles competition, again partnering with Dulko and beating Victoria Azarenka and Maria Kirilenko in the final. In the Fed Cup, she helped two-time reigning champion Italy defeat Australia with wins in two singles rubbers over Sam Stosur and Jarmila Groth.

At the Dubai Championships, Pennetta was seeded 11th. In the first round, she defeated wildcard Jelena Dokić. She advanced to the semifinal after defeating Zakopalová, Azarenka, and Alisa Kleybanova, respectively. However, there she was defeated by Svetlana Kuznetsova.

As the 21st seed at the Wimbledon Championships, Pennetta eased past Chanelle Scheepers in two sets before seeing off Evgeniya Rodina to reach to the third round. She then fell to Marion Bartoli in a close match with Bartoli edging the win in three sets.

On 28 February, Pennetta became the first Italian tennis player (male or female) to be ranked world No. 1 in doubles.

Pennetta was the 26th seed at the US Open. She defeated Aravane Rezaï, Romina Oprandi, third seed Maria Sharapova, and 13th seed Peng Shuai in straight sets, to reach the US Open quarterfinals for the third time, where she lost to Angelique Kerber.

Pennetta's next tournament was the Japan Open, where she was eliminated in the first round by Kaia Kanepi after a three-set match. At Beijing, she made it to the semifinals, beating the defending champion and world No. 1, Caroline Wozniacki, in three sets, before losing to Agnieszka Radwańska, in straight sets.

2012: Wrist injury and out of top 50
Pennetta retired against Zheng Jie in final of Auckland. At the Australian Open, she lost to Nina Bratchikova in round one. She then reached the second round at Doha and Dubai, losing on both occasions to Kateryna Bondarenko and Jelena Janković, respectively. Pennetta then reached the final at Acapulco, where she lost to Sara Errani.

During the North American hardcourt swing, Pennetta reached the third round at Indian Wells, losing to Agnieszka Radwańska. Then at the Miami Open, she lost to wildcard Garbiñe Muguruza in the third round. At the Barcelona Open, Pennetta, the fifth seed, lost to Ukrainian Yuliya Beygelzimer in the second round. Unseeded at the Rome Masters, Pennetta reached the quarterfinals after defeating Maria Kirilenko, Sloane Stephens, and Petra Cetkovská. She then lost to Serena Williams. At the French Open, she reached the third round, where she lost to eventual quarterfinalist Angelique Kerber.

Pennetta kicked off the grass-court season with a second-round appearance at the Rosmalen Open, losing to Urszula Radwańska. At Wimbledon, she fell to Camila Giorgi in round 1. At the Olympics, Pennetta defeated Sorana Cîrstea and Tsvetana Pironkova before losing to Petra Kvitová in round 3. At the Montreal, Pennetta lost to Chanelle Scheepers in the second round after receiving a first-round bye. Pennetta did not play the US Open due to injury. On 27 August 2012, Pennetta underwent surgical cleaning of her right wrist, performed by the doctor who has treated Rafael Nadal.

2013: Comeback from injury, US Open semifinal
Pennetta returned to competition at the Copa Colsanitas ranked 60th. She lost to Lara Arruabarrena in the second round. The following week, she fell to Lourdes Domínguez Lino in the first round at the Abierto Mexicano where she was finalist the year before. She then lost to Francesca Schiavone in the first round at Indian Wells. At the Miami Open, Pennetta defeated Johanna Larsson in round one before losing to world No. 1, Serena Williams.

Pennetta lost in the first round at Madrid and Rome to Kaia Kanepi and Sloane Stephens, respectively. The week before the French Open, Pennetta qualified for the Internationaux de Strasbourg and reached the semifinals where she lost to Lucie Hradecká. At the French Open, she lost to Kirsten Flipkens in the first round. Pennetta had a breakthrough at Wimbledon where she advanced to the fourth round for the first time in more than five years. She defeated Elena Baltacha in her opening match before receiving a walkover from Victoria Azarenka in the second round. She then went on to defeat Alizé Cornet in three sets before losing to Flipkens again. Pennetta then reached the semifinals at Båstad where she lost to Larsson.

During the US Open Series, Pennetta fell in the first round at the Southern California Open to Schiavone. At the Rogers Cup in Toronto, she defeated Urszula Radwańska in the first round. She then lost to the 16th seed Ana Ivanovic. The following week in Cincinnati, she lost to American Varvara Lepchenko in the first round. Pennetta was ranked 83rd entering the US Open and she reached her first Grand Slam singles semifinal, defeating higher-ranked opponents such as Errani, Kuznetsova, Halep and Vinci in early rounds before succumbing to world No. 2, Victoria Azarenka, in the semifinals.

In September, Pennetta reached the second round at Tokyo after defeating Daniela Hantuchová. She then lost to Caroline Wozniacki. At the China Open, she drew Ivanovic in the first round, and lost in straight sets. At the Osaka Open, she lost to Vania King in the first round. Pairing with Kristina Mladenovic, she won the doubles title, defeating Samantha Stosur and Zhang Shuai in the final.

2014: Indian Wells champion, US Open doubles final
As the 28th seed Pennetta reached the quarterfinals at Australian Open, having defeated Angelique Kerber in the fourth round. She lost to Li Na, who then went on to win the tournament. Pennetta then suffered a shocking first round defeat to Hsieh Su-wei in Doha. In Dubai she reached main draw and then defeated Kaia Kanepi and 2nd seed Agnieszka Radwańska, before losing the match against Venus Williams in quarterfinals. Pennetta then won the biggest title of her career at Indian Wells where she defeated Radwańska to win the final. She had defeated top seed Li Na en route to the final. At the Miami Open, Pennetta lost to Ana Ivanovic in the third round. The following week at Monterrey, as the top seed, she lost her opener to Kimiko Date-Krumm.

During the clay-court season, Pennetta reached the second round at Stuttgart, where she lost to Jelena Janković. At the Mutua Madrid Open, Pennetta fell in round one to Lucie Šafářová. Playing in front of her home crowd at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, she reached the third round after defeating Yvonne Meusburger and Belinda Bencic. She subsequently lost to Janković again. At Roland Garros, Pennetta lost to Johanna Larsson in the second round. She reached the second round at Eastbourne where she lost to local girl Heather Watson. In doubles, she partnered with Martina Hingis and they reached the final, losing to the Chan sisters. At Wimbledon, Pennetta lost to American Lauren Davis in the second round.

Pennetta kicked off her US Open series campaign with a first round to Kazakh Yulia Putintseva at Montreal. The following week, she reached the third round at Cincinnati where she lost to Serena Williams. Pennetta then reached her fifth US Open quarterfinal after defeating Casey Dellacqua in the fourth round. She succumbed to Serena once again in the last eight despite having an early lead. In doubles, she partnered with Hingis and they reached the final, losing to Russian duo Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in three sets.

In October, Pennetta was seeded 15th at the Wuhan Open; she lost in the first round to Jarmila Gajdošová in straight sets, but won the doubles tournament with Hingis. At the China Open, she defeated Christina McHale in the first round before succumbing to Carla Suárez Navarro in three sets. As the third seed in Moscow, Pennetta once again suffered an opening round loss to Camila Giorgi. She received a wildcard to play in Sofia after the withdrawal of Janković. She turned things around by reaching the final, her second of 2014. In the round-robin stage she overcame Alizé Cornet and Karolína Plíšková in straight sets. She also suffered a loss to Garbiñe Muguruza, despite winning the first set 6–0. Accumulating a record of 2–1, she advanced to the semifinal for the first time since Indian Wells in March where she avenged her loss to Suarez Navarro, claiming the victory in straight sets. She ran out of steam in the final, falling to Andrea Petkovic in three sets, having won the first set 6–1.

2015: Grand Slam title, career-high ranking & retirement
The 2015 season started slowly for Pennetta. During the Hopman Cup, she "bagelled" Serena Williams before ultimately losing the match. In the Australian Open, she lost to compatriot Camila Giorgi in the first round, failing to defend her quarterfinalist points from 2014. In the Dubai Premier event she reached the quarterfinals, where she lost to Caroline Wozniacki. As the defending champion at Indian Wells, she managed to reach the quarterfinals, beating Madison Brengle, Sam Stosur, and world No. 2, Maria Sharapova. She lost to Sabine Lisicki in three thrilling sets despite having three match points. At the Miami Open she continued this run, by defeating former world No. 1, Victoria Azarenka, before falling to Simona Halep in the round of 16 in straight sets in a high-class match despite leading 5–2 in the second set. Pennetta had mixed results during the clay season. She made it to the quarterfinals in Marrakech, losing to eventual finalist Tímea Babos in three sets. She suffered early exits at both Madrid and Rome to Andrea Petkovic and Elina Svitolina, respectively. Pennetta equalled her best result at the French Open by reaching the fourth round. She beat Carla Suárez Navarro for her second top 10 win before losing to Garbiñe Muguruza in straight sets.

Pennetta went winless during the grass season. She lost in Eastbourne to Svetlana Kuznetsova and at Wimbledon to Zarina Diyas.

In Toronto, Pennetta lost in the second round to Serena Williams in three sets. This was the first time since 2008 that Pennetta had won a set against Williams in an official match. At Cincinnati, Pennetta beat former top-ten player Dominika Cibulková before losing to newly crowned Toronto champion Belinda Bencic in straight sets. In New Haven, Pennetta lost in the first round to last year's finalist, Magdaléna Rybáriková, in three sets.

Pennetta then played at the US Open as the 26th seed. She made it to the quarterfinals for the sixth time in the previous seven attempts by beating Jarmila Gajdošová, Monica Niculescu, Petra Cetkovská and 2011 champion, Samantha Stosur. In the quarterfinals, she came up against two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitová. Pennetta won the match in three sets, after having trailed 1–3 in the second set, to advance to her second US Open semifinal. She then defeated second seed Simona Halep in straight sets to advance to her first Grand Slam final. Pennetta faced Roberta Vinci in the first-ever all-Italian Grand Slam final in the Open Era. Pennetta won the match in straight sets, claiming her first ever US Open title and her first Grand Slam title. During her acceptance speech she announced her retirement. In an interview with Eurosport after the match, Pennetta clarified that she would play out the rest of the season. By virtue of winning the US Open, Pennetta returned to the top 10 for the first time since September 2009. In the weeks following the US Open, she attained a new career-high ranking of No. 6. She qualified for the WTA Finals in Singapore, where she was defeated in the round robin, losing against Halep and defeating Agnieszka Radwańska before going down to Maria Sharapova in the last professional singles match of her career.

Pennetta retired having won 28 career titles in total, including the US Open in singles and Australian Open and WTA Finals in doubles, reaching No. 6 in the world in singles and No. 1 in doubles, and winning the Fed Cup four times between 2006 and 2013.

Personal life
Flavia Pennetta was born in Brindisi to Oronzo and Concetta Pennetta. She has an older sister. She was introduced to tennis at the age of five and has cited Monica Seles as her tennis idol. Pennetta previously dated Carlos Moyá. The two split in 2007, and she wrote of the traumatic breakup in her memoir Dritto al cuore (Straight to the Heart).

Pennetta began dating compatriot ATP tennis player Fabio Fognini in early 2014. Pennetta and Fognini became engaged in 2015, and the two were married in Ostuni in June 2016. Pennetta gave birth to a baby boy in 2017. In 2019, their second child was born, and in 2021 a daughter was born.

Pennetta is a Catholic.

Equipment

 * Coach: former professional tennis player from Spain Salvador Navarro, who worked previously for David Ferrer and Tommy Robredo.
 * Racket: Wilson BLX Blade 98 16/19
 * Clothing: Adidas
 * Shoes: Adidas

Honours

 * Knight of Order of Merit of the Republic (24 January 2007)

title: Flavia Pennetta


text:
Open-label trial

An open-label trial, or open trial, is a type of clinical trial in which information is not withheld from trial participants. In particular, both the researchers and participants know which treatment is being administered. This contrasts with a double-blinded trial, where information is withheld both from the researchers and the participants to reduce bias.

Open-label trials may be appropriate for comparing two similar treatments to determine which is most effective, such as a comparison of different prescription anticoagulants, or possible relief from symptoms of some disorders when a placebo is given.

An open-label trial may still be randomized. Open-label trials may also be uncontrolled (without a placebo group), with all participants receiving the same treatment.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Open-label trial


text:
Igor Giorgadze

Igor Panteleimonovich Giorgadze (იგორ პანტელეიმონის გიორგაძე; born 23 July 1950) is a Georgian politician-in-exile, a former Minister of State Security (1993–1995) and the current leader of the "Samartlianoba" (Justice) Party.

Early life
Giorgadze was born in Zaisan, a city on the Soviet-Chinese border in what is now eastern Kazakhstan. His father General Panteleimon Giorgadze, a World War II veteran and the former head of United Communist Party of Georgia, wanted his son to receive military education. In 1968 Giorgadze got accepted at the prestigious Higher School of the USSR Committee for State Security (KGB) in Moscow. He graduated in 1973 with a degree in jurisprudence and foreign languages. Besides Georgian and Russian, he speaks Turkish and French as well as Serbo-Croatian and Azeri.

KGB officer (1973–1993)
Lieutenant-General Giorgadze held various posts with the security services of the Republic of Georgia. From 1980 to 1981 he also took part in combat operations in Afghanistan as a member of the KGB "Cascade" task group in the city of Kandahar. He has been awarded fifteen government decorations, including the "For Merit in Combat" medal and holds the title of "Honorary Officer of the KGB of the USSR".

Minister of State Security (1993–1995)
During the 1992-1993 civil war between the adherents of the first Georgian president Zviad Gamsakhurdia and his opponents, Igor Giorgadze sided with Eduard Shevardnadze and in 1993, was appointed the country's Minister of State Security. During his ministerial tenure Giorgadze actively promoted working relations with the special services of Turkey, Russia, the United States and grew in considerable influence in the Georgian government.

Political downfall (1995)
On 29 August 1995 there was an attempt on the life of the then president Shevardnadze, after which Giorgadze was removed from his post. On 4 September, Giorgadze left Georgia after giving a press conference where he announced his plans to move to Moscow. After leaving the country Giorgadze wrote an open letter to Shevardnadze where he called Shevardnadze's regime a "Mafia State". Soon after the letter the allegations implicating his involvement in the 29 August assassination attempt followed and warrants were sent to Interpol for Giorgadze's arrest. In 1997 there was a trial called the "Trial of the Century" where those accused of involvement with the assassination attempt against Shevardnadze were tried. With 13 defendants and 365 witnesses the prosecution was unable to link Giorgadze to the terrorist act as neither the defendants nor witnesses testified against him. Claims against Giorgadze remain unproven yet the charges have not been dropped. Giorgadze himself has always denied any involvement with the assassination attempt and accused the Georgian government of political persecution.

Opposition in exile (1995–present)
Following Giorgadze's exile, Giorgadze received support from Paul Manafort's partner Rick Davis, Oleg Deripaska, and Deripaska's very close supporter Nathaniel Rothchild.

In the 2000s, Giorgadze again attempted to enter Georgia's political arena. In July 2001 the "Samshoblo" ("Motherland") All-Georgia Patriotic Alliance was officially registered in Tbilisi. The organization, comprising nine parties and popular movements, elected Giorgadze its chairman.

In 2003 Giorgadze founded the political party "Samartlianoba" (Justice), and in 2005 he became the initiator of the political movement "Anti-Soros" which is an alliance of four opposition parties including Samartlianoba. The movement's name refers to the American billionaire George Soros. The party advocates closer economic and political ties with the Russian Federation and criticizes the current government for its pro-NATO course. However, Giorgadze's party enjoys minimal support in Georgia, and has been accused of being funded by the Russian security services.

Despite being abroad, Giorgadze attempted to run for President of Georgia in the 2000 and 2004 elections, but on each occasion Georgia's Central Election Commission (CEC) refused to register him.

2006 anti-Saakashvili arrests
On 6 September 2006 Georgian police arrested over 30 members of the "Samartlianoba" party and its satellite political groups in a round-up in the nation's capital Tbilisi and elsewhere in the country. The arrested were accused of plotting to organize a violent coup against the government of President Mikheil Saakashvili. Allegations also include receiving illegal funding from abroad and collaboration with the security services of a foreign country.

Georgian media quoted President Saakashvili as saying, "These people will receive what they deserve and their patrons and sponsors will see this. As far as I know hysteric attempts were underway [to plot a coup]. The wine embargo [by Russia] has failed to bring results, military provocations as well; so this kind of things [plotting coup] has been left on their disposal, but these attempts will not harm us if we are consolidated." The defendants, among whom is Giorgadze's niece Maia Topuria, were convicted and sentenced from four to eight years of imprisonment. Topuria's American legal council have decried the decision to close the courtroom. and have urged the government of Georgia to stop the political persecutions against the defendants. The trial was appealed in Strasbourg at the European Court of Human Rights.

title: Igor Giorgadze


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Andria Dadiani

Prince Andria Dadiani (ანდრია დადიანი; 1850–1910), known in Russia as Andrey Davidovich Dadian-Mingrelsky (Андрей Давидович Дадиани), was a Georgian nobleman and a chess player.

A member of a Mingrelian (Western Georgia) princely family, son of prince David Dadiani and his wife princess Ekaterine Chavchavadze, Andria Dadiani was born in Zugdidi, W. Georgia. He graduated from Heidelberg University Faculty of Law in 1873. Later, he served as a lieutenant-general of the Russian army.

Andrei Dadiani learned to play chess from his parents. In 1864 he met Thomas Wilson Barnes while vacationing in Homberg, Germany. Under Barnes's tutelage, Dadian won his first tournament at Homberg that year. In 1867 Dadian met Ignatz Kolisch who had just won the Paris tournament. He played Kolisch and won a few games. Prince Andrei Dadiani was a chess player, sponsor and organizer. He sponsored and played in the first Kiev chess tournament of 1900, attaining second place behind Nikolaev and sponsored the 2nd (1902) and 3rd(1903) all-Russian tournaments in Kiev. He helped sponsor or organize the Belle Epoch chess tournaments at Monte Carlo in 1901, 1902 and 1903 and Barmen in 1905.

Due to his position, Dadiani participated in very few tournaments. Besides winning amateur tournament Homberg in 1864 and placing second in Kiev 1900, he came in first in St. Petersburg 1881–82. He is also said to have played in a tournament in Rome between 1867 and 1881, but this is unsubstantiated.

Many of his games were published by Numa Preti in "La Strategie" and by William Steinitz in his International Chess Magazine. British Chess Magazine dedicated its June–July 1892 issue to Dadiani.

In 1903, Mikhail Chigorin was invited to the Monte Carlo tournament. Dadiani, operating under the idea that Chigorin had insulted him on an earlier occasion, refused to sponsor the tournament if Chigorin remained. The committee honored Dadiani's wishes and excluded Chigorin. Dadiani did indemnify Chigorin for the inconvenience to the sum of 1500 francs, which was slightly more than the value of third prize.

After his death, some people accused Dadiani of having falsified or pre-arranged his brilliancies. Although none of these claims have even been substantiated, it is known that he remunerated Steinitz and Preti for publishing his games and was later accused by Fedor Duz-Chotimirski of sending in his own wins while covering up his opponents wins.. Thus, it is hard to establish how good a chess-player he really was.

Emmanuel Schiffers published a book of Prince Dadiani's end-games, Fins de Partie de S.A.S. le Prince Dadian de Mingrelie (Kiev, 1903) and Tengiz Giorgadze published "Ygraet A. Dadiani" ("Play Andrey Dadiani") in "Soviet Georgia" (Tbilisi, 1972).

title: Andria Dadiani


text:
Avar

Avar(s) or AVAR may refer to:

Peoples and states

 * Avars (Caucasus), a modern Northeast Caucasian-speaking people in the North Caucasus, Dagestan, Russia
 * Avar language, the modern Northeast Caucasian language spoken by the Avars of the North Caucasus, Dagestan, Russia
 * Avar Khanate, a former country of the Caucasus Avars
 * Pannonian Avars, a medieval nomadic people who lived in Central and Eastern Europe of probable East Asian Steppe origin
 * Avar Khaganate, a former country of the Pannonian Avars
 * Rouran Khaganate, a state of nomadic Mongolian tribes from the late 4th century until the middle 6th century, possibly linked with the Pannonian Avars

Settlements in Iran

 * Avar, Qazvin
 * Avar, Razavi Khorasan
 * Avar, Tehran

In science and technology

 * Avar (animation variable), a variable in computer-generated imagery
 * Avar, symbol for asymptotic variance, in statistics
 * Allan variance, a statistical measure of frequency stability
 * Trade name for dermatological drugs that contains a sulfonamide antibiotic
 * Football abbreviation of assistant video assistant referee

Other uses

 * Average value at risk, a coherent risk measure in finance
 * Avari (Middle-earth), a group of Elves in the Lord of the Rings fictional universe

title: Avar


text:
Robin Söderling

Robin Bo Carl Söderling (born 14 August 1984) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world No. 4 singles ranking on 15 November 2010. His career highlights include reaching two consecutive finals at the French Open in 2009 and 2010, and an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title at the 2010 Paris Masters. He was the first player to defeat Rafael Nadal at the French Open. Söderling played his last professional match at only age 26 after contracting a lingering bout of mononucleosis.

Tennis career
Söderling began playing tennis at the age of five. He made his first steps in international tennis in November 1998 in Luxembourg when at the age of 14 he played his first official junior tournament, losing the opening match to Fred Hemmes Jr.

Söderling came to prominence at the 2009 French Open, where he became the first player to defeat Rafael Nadal at the tournament, and the only one to achieve it until Novak Djokovic in 2015. Nadal had previously never lost at the tournament since his debut in 2005 and was the four-time defending champion. Söderling subsequently advanced to the final, defeating two-time semi-finalist Nikolay Davydenko in the quarterfinals and Fernando González in five sets in the semifinals en route before being defeated by Roger Federer in the final.

Söderling reached a second successive French Open final in 2010. He defeated defending champion Federer in the quarterfinals, which ended Federer's record streak of 23 consecutive Grand Slam semifinals. Söderling won the semifinal in five sets against Tomáš Berdych before losing in straight sets to Rafael Nadal in the final.

Following injuries and illness, Söderling had not played a tour-level match since he won the 2011 Swedish Open in July 2011, (at which time he was ranked No. 5 in the world, was only 26 years old and was ranked inside the Top 5 for more than 50 consecutive weeks) until his retirement in 2015. He has become active in tennis administration as a tournament director at the Stockholm Open in 2014 and 2015 and produced his own brand of premium tennis gear since 2013.

On 23 December 2015, Söderling announced his retirement from professional tennis.

Juniors
In his first full year in the junior tour (2000), he achieved four tournament victories and in 2001 attained three more titles in the juniors including the prestigious Orange Bowl, which he won without dropping a set. In the same year, Söderling achieved No. 4 in the year-end ranking.

As a junior Söderling reached as high as No. 2 in the world in singles in 2002 (and No. 11 in doubles).

2001–2008: Early years
Söderling turned pro in 2001, but only played 2 tour-level matches. He played in his first ATP tournament in Stockholm, winning his first match 6–3, 6–3 against Ramón Delgado.

Söderling tried to make his name known in the men's circuit in 2002, playing five more ATP tournaments and the second round of the US Open. In the Challenger circuit, he achieved a 20–7 record, and he played in the US Open Junior tournament where he reached the final.

In 2003 the transition to the main tour was completed as he reached the third round at Wimbledon (coming from the qualifying rounds) and reached an ATP final in Stockholm (losing a decisive tie-break there), earning the year-end ranking of 86.

Robin's first ATP title came in 2004 at the Lyon where he beat Belgian Xavier Malisse in the final. He also made the final at Marseille. By the end of the year, Söderling climbed into the world's top 50 in the rankings.

Söderling suffered his first serious injury in 2005, eventually resulting in a knee operation in March. But even though not fit to play many tournaments, he managed to win another title – in Milan (defeating Radek Štěpánek in the final). After a mediocre and injury troubled season from there on, Söderling reached the third round in the US Open before going through another surgery.

Returning in 2006, he bounced back from 100th place in the Indesit ATP rankings to top 50 within three months, even though knee and shoulder injuries still prevented him from playing at his best. He helped the Swedish team with two wins to keep its World Group Davis Cup spot in a play-off in Brazil. During this he earned sufficient ATP points to finish at a then career-high ranking of No. 25 in the world.

In 2007 Söderling made it to the round of 32 at Wimbledon, where he lost to Rafael Nadal in a five-set match. He caused much controversy on the court when he exchanged mocking behaviour with Nadal, tugging on his shorts in the manner Nadal is known for after growing tired of Nadal's slow play at the beginning of the 5th. Söderling did not make it to an ATP final for the first time in five years in 2007, however, he turned out consistent results throughout the year. He missed the last 3 months of the main tour due to a left wrist injury. Söderling missed the Australian Open due to injury. The first tournament he entered in 2007 was the Open 13 Marseille, where he reached the quarterfinals. He then reached the final of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament (Rotterdam), finishing runner-up to Michaël Llodra in the final, 7–6, 2–6, 6–3. The next week he reached another final at the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships in Memphis, U.S. He beat top seed Andy Roddick in the tournament along the way to the final. However, he lost another final in two weeks as he finished runner-up to unseeded Steve Darcis, 3–6, 6–7.

At the 2008 World Team Cup in Düsseldorf on clay, he was undefeated in four singles and four doubles matches. He became only the third player in the history of that event to accomplish that feat since John McEnroe in 1984 and Fernando González in 2003. Winning all of his matches there, he led the Swedish team to victory. In late May he reached the 3rd round in the French Open where he lost against home player Julien Benneteau. At Wimbledon, he lost to Roger Federer in the round of 64 in three straight sets. After disappointing results in both the Beijing Olympics and the US Open, Söderling decided to break up with his trainer Peter Carlsson. He took on former Swedish world number 2 Magnus Norman as support until he appointed a new trainer. With the help of Norman, Robin reached his third final of the year in his native Sweden at Stockholm, but lost to David Nalbandian in a tough match, 2–6, 7–5, 3–6. Three weeks later Söderling finally clinched a final win for his first title in 3 years, and the second on the particular venue, at the Lyon tournament, defeating Julien Benneteau in three sets, 6–3, 6–7, 6–1. On his way to the final he recorded wins over top seed Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals, as well as the French number one Gilles Simon in the semi, both ranked in the top 10 ATP South African Airways ranking. With that, Söderling himself climbed as high as No. 18 in the rankings, a new career-best. He finished the year with a then career-high ranking of No. 17. On 4 November he announced that Magnus Norman would be his trainer starting right after his vacation.

2009: French Open final and top 10 debut
With his new trainer, Söderling started the 2009 ATP World Tour at the Brisbane International. He lost in the quarterfinals against Radek Štěpánek, who eventually won the tournament. Söderling then participated in the Heineken Open where he lost in the semifinals against Juan Martín del Potro, again losing to the eventual champion. He was seeded 16th at the 2009 Australian Open and lost to an unseeded former finalist Marcos Baghdatis in the second round. Despite playing well and winning the Challenger in Sunrise, Söderling suffered from injuries mixed with poor results for over two months. He finally won consecutive matches for the first time on the ATP tour since the Australian Open at the Rome Masters, before falling to world No. 1 Rafael Nadal in a controversial match 1–6, 0–6 in the third round. Following another third round exit at the Madrid Masters against Roger Federer, Söderling next competed at the ARAG World Team Cup in Düsseldorf, as part of the Swedish contingent. Although Sweden lost, Söderling defeated Gilles Simon and Rainer Schüttler, the latter 6–0, 6–0.

At the French Open, Söderling, seeded 23rd, reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time after defeating Kevin Kim, Denis Istomin, and David Ferrer. This set up a match with four-time defending champion Rafael Nadal. He scored the biggest upset of the year beating Nadal and ending the latter's record 31-match winning streak at Roland Garros. Women's tennis legend Martina Navratilova described the match as one of the greatest upsets in tennis history. His 6–2, 6–7(2–7), 6–4, 7–6(7–2) victory over the reigning world No. 1 made Söderling the first of only three people (the others being Novak Djokovic in 2015 and 2021, and Alexander Zverev in 2024) to beat Nadal at the French Open and in a best of five-set match on clay. Two days later, Söderling defeated Nikolay Davydenko to reach his maiden major semifinal. Söderling made his first Grand Slam final, beating Fernando González 6–3, 7–5, 5–7, 4–6, 6–4 after having been down 0–30 and 1–4 in the final set, then reeling off the final five games of the set and match. Söderling lost the final to Federer 1–6, 6–7(1–7), 4–6; however, his ranking was elevated to 12th in the world, a then career high.

Söderling was seeded 13th at the Wimbledon Championships, his next event. He reached the fourth round for the first time in his career, defeating Gilles Müller, Marcel Granollers, and Nicolás Almagro on the way there. Söderling set up another match with Federer, a five-time champion at Wimbledon; though Federer defeated him again, 4–6, 6–7(5–7), 6–7(5–7), Söderling was only broken once in the match.

After Wimbledon, Söderling returned to his native country to play at the Collector Swedish Open. As the number two seed, he received a first-round bye. He defeated Kristof Vliegen 6–2, 6–3 in the second round, and won his quarterfinal match against Nicolás Almagro 7–5, 6–3. Söderling reached the final by defeating fellow countryman, Andreas Vinciguerra, 6–1, 7–6(8–6). There, he beat Juan Mónaco 6–3, 7–6(7–4) for the title, becoming the first Swede since his coach Magnus Norman (in 2000) to win the singles title at the Swedish Open. This was Söderling's first outdoor title, as well as his first title on a surface other than indoor hardcourt. As a result of his win, Söderling moved up to 11th in the world.

Söderling then participated in the International German Open but lost in the third round to Nicolás Almagro. This was Söderling's first loss to a player other than Federer since the Rome Masters in late April, where he lost to Rafael Nadal.

Moving to the U.S. hard court season, Söderling started at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic but had to pull out in the quarterfinals due to an elbow injury which forced Söderling to withdraw from the Canada Masters as well. Returning to the scene at Cincinnati Masters, he lost in the first round to former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt.

Söderling was seeded 12th at the US Open and advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time at Flushing Meadows after defeating notable opponents such as Albert Montañés, Marcel Granollers, in form American 22nd seed Sam Querrey and 8th seed Nikolay Davydenko. En route to the quarterfinals, Söderling had a bit of luck on the fact that two of his opponents retired, including the Russian, who retired when Söderling led 7–5, 3–6, 6–2. Söderling went on to face five-time defending champion and 1st seed Roger Federer for the fourth time this year (and third consecutive in a Grand Slam event). Söderling was defeated by Federer 0–6, 3–6, 7–6(8–6), 6–7(6–8). This was the second time in the pair's 12 meetings that Söderling took a set against Federer. In Davis Cup Playoffs, he helped in achieving a 3–2 win over Romania and a chance for Sweden to compete in the 2010 Davis Cup by clinching a 7–5, 6–1, 6–0 victory over world No. 28 Victor Hănescu.

After US Open, he reached the semifinals in both Malaysian Open and China Open before the Shanghai Masters where he officially made it into the top 10 for the first time, notably beating fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6–3, 6–3. However, he was upset in the quarterfinals by Feliciano López 6–7(4), 3–6. Söderling was the No. 1 seed at the Stockholm Open but due to an elbow injury had to retire in the semifinals. Though not a serious injury, Söderling retired from the Valencia Open 500 tournament as well. At the moment No. 9 on the ATP Race to London, Söderling needed a big performance in BNP Paribas Masters to reach the ATP World Tour Finals. He started strong against Ivo Karlović, winning in straight sets, 6–4, 7–6(8–6), and beat 6th seed Davydenko in the third round, 6–3, 3–6, 6–4. Söderling lost his chance of qualifying to the ATP World Tour Finals, however, when 3rd seed Novak Djokovic was too strong in the quarterfinals and was defeated three sets, 4–6, 6–1, 3–6.

However, Söderling qualified as the first reserve for the finals when American Andy Roddick withdrew due to an injury sustained in Shanghai. Söderling was drawn into a group comprising Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Nikolay Davydenko. He made an impressive start, beating Nadal in his first round-robin match 6–4, 6–4. He followed that up with a 7–6(7–5), 6–1 win over Djokovic. He was then assured a place in the semi-finals of this year-end championships. However, he lost to Nikolay Davydenko 6–7(4–7), 6–4, 3–6 in his third and final round-robin match. Despite this, he became the winner of his group (group B) and set up a semifinal clash with US Open champion Juan Martín del Potro who defeated him 6–7(1–7), 6–3, 7–6(7–3). Söderling finished the year ranked No. 8, a new career-best.

2010: French Open final and career high ranking

2010 proved to be Söderling's most successful year to date. He reached No. 4 in the world (career-best) and finished the year as a Top 5 player. He repeated the previous year's success at Roland Garros by reaching a second successive final and winning his first Masters 1000 crown.

Söderling made his 2010 debut at the Capitala World Tennis Championship, an exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi. He started in the quarterfinals, defeating Stanislas Wawrinka, 7–6(7–4), 7–6(7–2). Söderling then came back from a set and break down to defeat Roger Federer 6–7(6–8), 7–6(7–1), 6–2. Although generally reported in the media as being the first time Söderling had defeated Federer in 13 attempts, as an exhibition it remains an unofficial match that does not count on record. Söderling faced Rafael Nadal in the final, but was defeated 6–7(3–7), 5–7.

Söderling then headed to Chennai, India to participate in the Aircel Chennai Open where he was the 1st seed but lost in the first round to American Robby Ginepri.

Robin Söderling was seeded 8th but lost in the first round of the Australian Open to unseeded Spaniard Marcel Granollers despite being up 2 sets to love, 7–5, 6–2, 4–6, 4–6, 2–6.

Söderling received a wildcard to the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament and was seeded 3rd. He won his first ATP match of the year defeating Florent Serra 4–6, 6–4, 6–1 in the first round and went on to win the tournament, when, leading 6–4, 2–0 against Mikhail Youzhny, Youzhny retired with a hamstring injury, becoming Söderling's then-biggest tournament win (in terms of point size).

Söderling was the first seed at the Open 13 in Marseille but lost in the quarterfinals to eventual champion Michaël Llodra 6–7(2–7), 4–6. He won both his singles ties against Argentina in Davis Cup, though Sweden lost eventually 2–3. Söderling was seeded sixth at the 2010 BNP Paribas Open, losing in the semifinals to seventh seed Andy Roddick after a three-set match, 4–6, 6–3, 3–6. Seeded fifth in the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open, Söderling was once again eliminated in the semifinals, this time by Tomáš Berdych 2–6, 2–6.

After good results in the U.S., Robin returned to Europe for the clay-court season but had to pull out of 2010 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters due to an overstrained knee. His clay-court season got underway at the 2010 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell where he reached the final after victories over Juan Ignacio Chela, Feliciano López, Eduardo Schwank and Thiemo de Bakker. He fell to 5th seed Fernando Verdasco in three sets.

Söderling had a dip in form after poor results in both Rome Masters and Madrid Masters winning just one match against Paolo Lorenzi in Rome. His final tournament before Roland Garros was Open de Nice Côte d'Azur where he was the first seed. There, after receiving a bye in the first round, he fell in the second round as Olivier Rochus upset the Swede 6–2, 4–6, 4–6.

Söderling was seeded 5th at the French Open where he defeated Federer for the first time in his career in a tour-level match in the quarterfinals. Söderling's victory snapped Federer's streak of 23 consecutive semifinal appearances in Grand Slam tournaments and marked the second consecutive year that Söderling defeated the defending French Open champion. In the semifinals, he defeated the 15th seed Tomáš Berdych 6–3, 3–6, 5–7, 6–3, 6–3 to reach his second consecutive French Open final. By this win, Söderling guaranteed himself a then career-high ranking of world No. 6. Söderling faced Rafael Nadal in the final and could not stop the Spaniard as he fell 4–6, 2–6, 4–6.

After another successful run at Roland Garros, Söderling entered the Wimbledon Championships as the sixth seed where he lost, in the quarterfinals, to eventual champion Rafael Nadal 6–3, 3–6, 6–7(4–7), 1–6. Despite the loss, he cracked into the top 5 for the first time in his career.

Returning to his native country for the first time since the Davis Cup tie in March, Söderling was seeded top at the Swedish Open; a tournament that he won the previous year. He lost in the final against Nicolás Almagro, 5–7, 6–3, 2–6.

After a three-week hiatus from competition, Söderling started off his U.S. hard court season with the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event Canadian Open where he was seeded 5th, but was defeated by Argentine David Nalbandian 6–4, 4–6, 1–6 in the third round.

At the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters, Söderling was again the 5th seed and received a bye into the second round where he defeated Lleyton Hewitt 4–6, 6–3, 7–5. He lost in the third round to Andy Roddick.

Entering the final Grand Slam event of the year, Söderling was seeded 5th at the US Open. He defeated qualifier Andreas Haider-Maurer in a tough five-set opening round. In the second round, Söderling beat Taylor Dent with ease 6–2, 6–2, 6–4. He then played Thiemo de Bakker in the third round, and won comfortably in straight sets 6–2, 6–3, 6–3. He came through Albert Montañés in four sets to set up a quarterfinal showdown with Roger Federer, but could not stop the Swiss maestro as he lost 4–6, 4–6, 5–7 in tough conditions. He then went back to Sweden to compete in the Davis Cup, where Sweden retained their World Group status as they outmatched Italy.

Traveling to Asia for the Asian swing, Söderling had three quarterfinal showings. First at the Proton Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur, and then at the China Open in Beijing. He competed in Shanghai for the Shanghai Rolex Masters, where he maintained his consistency, beating Janko Tipsarević 6–3, 7–6(5), and David Ferrer 7–5, 6–4. He lost to Federer in the quarterfinals 1–6, 1–6.

Back in Stockholm, competing at the If Stockholm Open, he reached the quarterfinals after bowing out to eventual runner up Florian Mayer. Though a disappointing week for the Swede, he ensured his place in the ATP World Tour Finals as he became the 5th player to qualify.

After a semifinal spot in Valencia, Söderling traveled to Paris to compete at the BNP Paribas Masters. Receiving a bye to the 2nd round, Söderling defeated Gilles Simon 6–4, 6–0. Up next was Stanislas Wawrinka, 7–6(7–3), 6–3. In the quarterfinals, Söderling won over Andy Roddick, also in straight sets 7–5, 6–4. Söderling then saved three match points in beating Michaël Llodra to reach his first Masters 1000 final and won the championship by defeating Gaël Monfils (who had also saved 5 match points in his semi-final against Roger Federer) in the final 6–1, 7–6(7–1). He became the first Swedish player to win Paris Masters since Thomas Enqvist in 1996, and the first Swedish winner of a Masters 1000 since Enqvist won Cincinnati in 2000. With the win, he ensured a career-high ranking of No. 4 by overtaking Andy Murray.

Söderling's final tournament of the year was at the ATP World Tour Finals where he failed to progress through the group stage, winning one match against David Ferrer and losing to Andy Murray and Roger Federer. He finished the year as world No. 5, a career-best.

Söderling and coach Magnus Norman decided on 1 December 2010 that they would not continue their collaboration. Robin Söderling announced in early December 2010 that his new coach was to be Claudio Pistolesi.

2011: mononucleosis and semi-retirement
He started 2011 with a new coach at his side, finishing third at a January exhibition in Abu Dhabi. Söderling's first ATP World Tour tournament of the year was Brisbane International where he defeated Ryan Harrison, Michael Berrer, Matthew Ebden and Radek Štěpánek en route to the final. Söderling went on to win the tournament without dropping a set and being broken only once, winning against Andy Roddick 6–3, 7–5 in the final. This elevated his ranking back to No. 4 in the world, improving his seeding for the Australian Open.

Söderling reached the fourth round at the Australian Open, a career-best. As the fourth seed, he made his way to that without dropping a set, before being defeated in five sets by the unseeded Alexandr Dolgopolov.

Returning to Europe, he defended his title at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam. This was Söderling's second title of the year and eighth of his career. This also marked the first time he defended a title.

After success in Rotterdam, he traveled to Marseille for the Open 13. As the first seed, he defeated Nicolas Mahut, Michaël Llodra and Dmitry Tursunov en route to a second final in two weeks. There he faced Marin Čilić and after losing the first set, he came back, eventually winning 6–7(6–8), 6–3, 6–3. This was Söderling's third title of the year and 9th of his career.

After helping Sweden win the Davis Cup tie against Russia, Söderling had a dip in form spanning from early March to the beginning of May, only getting past the third round once in four events. Due to the lack of form, Söderling opted to split with his coach Claudio Pistolesi, only five months into the partnership. Days later, Fredrik Rosengren was appointed as the new coach of Söderling.

At the Madrid Masters, Söderling saw off Santiago Giraldo and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to set up a quarterfinal matchup with Roger Federer which he lost 6–7(2–7), 4–6.

In the first round of the Rome Masters, Söderling survived a scare as he saved 3 match points en route to defeating Fernando Verdasco 2–6, 7–5, 6–4. After winning 6–3, 3–6, 6–4 against Nicolás Almagro, he faced Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals which he lost 3–6, 0–6.

At the French Open, Söderling was seeded 5th and beat Ryan Harrison in the first round 6–1, 6–7(5–7), 6–3, 7–5. Harrison was up 5–4 in the fourth set, within one game of forcing a fifth and deciding set, but ceded the final three games, the fourth set, and ultimately the match to Söderling. Söderling then plowed through Albert Ramos, Leonardo Mayer and Gilles Simon without losing a set to land himself a quarterfinal showdown with world No. 1 Rafael Nadal. Söderling's hopes of repeating his 2009 upset of the Spaniard proved futile, as he was swept off the court in straight sets.

At the Wimbledon Championships, Söderling (seeded fifth) defeated Philipp Petzschner of Germany in the first round, coming up against one-time Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt in the second. Hewitt won the first two sets 7–6, 6–3, but Söderling fought back, snatched a couple of well-timed service breaks, ultimately going through to the third round after winning the last three sets 7–5, 6–4, 6–4. In the third round, however, Robin Söderling, troubled by a bad stomach, lost to Bernard Tomic of Australia 1–6, 4–6, 5–7.

After Wimbledon, Söderling announced that he would not take part in Sweden's Davis Cup fixture against reigning champions Serbia, preparing instead for the Swedish Open. He did not drop a single set in the entire tournament. He rolled past world No. 8 Tomáš Berdych in the semifinal (6–1, 6–0) and world No. 6 David Ferrer in the final (6–2, 6–2) for his fourth title of the year, and his last tour-level match to date.

Due to a wrist injury, Söderling was forced to withdraw from the back-to-back hardcourt Masters tournaments in Montreal and Cincinnati. He was also diagnosed with mononucleosis, an illness that forced him to withdraw from the US Open at the last minute. He had been slated to play Louk Sorensen of Ireland in the first round. With the illness continuing to hamper his progress, he decided to take yet more time out, withdrawing for the rest of the season, including the 2012 Australian Open.

Söderling only managed to play 14 tournaments in the first half of 2011 and finished the year with a 38–9 record and four titles.

2012–2015: Years off tour, retirement
Due to his ongoing recovery from illness, Söderling announced that he would miss the start of the 2012 season, including the Australian Open, and the French Open. He remained absent for the Indian Wells Masters, the first Masters tournament of the year. He later confirmed that he would be absent until at least after the Olympic Games and in July 2012, he dropped out of the ATP rankings due to having not competed for 12 months.

Söderling announced no timetable of returning due to slow recovery from his illness.

Söderling was absent from the tour in 2013. In September he launched a new range of tennis balls under the brand 'RS-Tennis'.

Söderling continued to be absent from the tour in 2014. During the year he produced and released more types of tennis gear for RS-Tennis and became the tournament director of the Stockholm Open.

2015 was Söderling's last year of his professional tennis career to date, although he was still absent from the tour. Throughout the year he produced and released more types of tennis gear for RS-Tennis. On 23 December, Söderling announced his retirement from professional tennis, after over four years of not playing a single ATP-level match due to mononucleosis. He also suffered from persistent anxiety and panic attacks, which he stated began in July 2011; Söderling announced he was "completely healed" in July 2020.

2016–2023: Coaching after retirement
In 2016, Söderling announced his intention to return to professional tennis, as he had said a few years earlier that he planned to have a very, very long career. He also stepped down as the tournament director of the Stockholm Open to Simon Aspelin.

He currently resides in the Stockholm suburb of Djursholm, with his wife and two children.

After a period spent coaching fellow Swede Elias Ymer, Söderling captained the Swedish 2021 Davis Cup Finals team.

On April 3, 2023, the Swedish Tennis Association said Soderling had stepped down from his role as Sweden's Davis Cup captain for health reasons.

Playing style
Söderling is an offensive baseliner who was known for his competitive drive and powerful game. His serve was heavy, reaching speeds up to 230 km/h (143 mph), although it could sometimes lack precision, leading him to struggle against strong returners like Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. He could overpower almost all of his opponents and possessed a good return game. He has accurate and powerful groundstrokes off both wings; his forehand was regarded as one of the most lethal in the game, and he also possesses a dangerously accurate two-handed backhand that can also produce winners with sharp angles although with less speed than his forehand. Most of his success came on faster surfaces (fast indoor courts; hard and carpet), although his best Grand Slam results came at the French Open; likely due to the heavy conditions and slowness of the clay which allowed him more time to set up his powerful shots.

Many people praised Söderling for his game, saying he was a Grand Slam contender and stable top-10 player, though his mental strength and lack of consistency were weaknesses. In latter years, his mental strength improved and this raised the consistency of his game; much of this was attributed to the influence of his coach, former world No. 2 and 2000 French Open finalist Magnus Norman.

Equipment
Söderling wore Lotto clothing and used the Head Pro Tour 630 racquet under various paint jobs throughout his career.

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Alhambra (board game)

Alhambra (Der Palast von Alhambra, literally "The Palace of Alhambra") is a 2003 tile-based German-style board game designed by Dirk Henn. It was originally published in Germany by Queen Games in a language-interdependent version; an English-specific version was released in North America by the now-defunct Überplay. The game is a Muslim-themed update, set during the construction of the Alhambra palace in 14th century Granada, of the 1998 stock trading board game Stimmt So!, which in turn was an update of the 1992 mafia influence board game Al Capone; the original version was subsequently released as Alhambra: The Card Game. Upon its release, Alhambra won numerous awards, including the Spiel des Jahres award. Its success has led to the release of numerous expansion packs and spin-off games, and is becoming Queen Games' flagship franchise.

Gameplay
The game consists of a deck of "currency cards" of various values in four currencies (suits) and a bag of "building tiles" of various prices, as well as a number of boards (a currency market, a building market, a reserve board for each player and a scoring track). Six of the building tiles are "fountain" tiles; one is given to each player to form the starting point of their palace, or "Alhambra", and the rest of the building tiles are placed in the bag. Each player is then dealt currency cards until the total value of cards in their hand is greater than or equal to twenty. The remaining currency cards are distributed into five piles, and two special scoring cards are inserted into the second and fourth piles. The five piles are then placed in order to form the currency deck. Four currency cards are drawn and placed face up to form the currency market, and four building tiles are drawn and placed face up on the four spaces of the building market. The player with the fewest currency cards in their hand takes the first turn; if tied, the tied player with the lower total value of currency cards in their hand takes the first turn.

Players then take turns, during which they may perform one of the following actions: At the end of a player's turn, they must add the tiles they purchased this turn to their Alhambra or place them on their reserve board (however, if they purchased multiple tiles on their turn, they do not have to add them in the order they were purchased). Currency cards and Building tiles are then added to any spaces in the Currency market or the Building market.
 * Draw currency cards from the currency market – either one card of any value or multiple cards totaling five or less.
 * Buy building tiles from the building market – by discarding currency cards totaling the value of the tile or greater. Each space on the building market has a currency type next to it; all cards discarded must be of that currency type, as each builder wants to be paid in their own currency. If the value of cards discarded exactly equals the price of the tile, the player may take another action during the turn.
 * Redesign their Alhambra – move a building tile from their reserve board to their Alhambra or from their Alhambra to their reserve board, or swap one tile from their reserve board with one already in their Alhambra.

Some tiles have walls along one or more edges. When players add tiles to their Alhambra, it must be possible to "walk" from the new tile to their starting fountain, i.e. it must be possible to trace a path from the fountain to the new tile while remaining within tiles and without crossing through any walls. It is also not permitted to create "holes" such that all four sides of a gap are closed in.

When the scoring cards are drawn from the Currency deck, or when not enough tiles are left in the bag to completely refill the building market, scoring occurs. The player with the most of a given building card type scores points indicated on the scoring card, according to the building type; in case of a tie, points are divided equally among tying players. More common building types are worth more points, and building types are worth more points in later scoring rounds. Each player also scores one point for each wall segment in their longest wall. In the final scoring round, the player with the most of a given currency type takes the tile of that currency type and may add it to their Alhambra before scoring.

The game contains special rules for two-player games. Two-player games use an imaginary third player called Dirk. Dirk does not use money, he is given a set of buildings automatically. During each scoring, Dirk's buildings are scored like the players', but he gets no points for walls.

Expansions
Due to the original game's popularity, as of 2013, six expansion packs, termed "extensions," have been designed for Alhambra, each of which adds four "modules" to the game. These modules may be played together or separately and modules may be combined from different expansions. The extensions are designed by both Dirk Henn and Wolfgang Panning and are named for one of its modules. These are, in order of release:
 * 1) The Vizier's Favor (Die Gunst des Wesirs, 2004)
 * 2) *Winning the Vizier's Favor introduces a vizier for each player. A player may use their vizier to buy a building tile out of turn provided they can pay exact change for it. A player may bring their vizier back into play by skipping their action on their turn.
 * 3) *The Bureau de Change introduces special cards to the deck. These special cards allow players to mix currencies when buying tiles.
 * 4) *The Bonus Cards introduces cards which are given out to each player at the start of the game. The cards grant its player a bonus if they possess the tile on the card in their Alhambra.
 * 5) *The Worker's Hut introduces worker hut tiles. Worker hut tiles are free to take but count as a player's action. They score nothing if they are placed by themselves, but if adjacent to other tiles of the same colour, they count as 1 extra building of that colour for each they are adjacent to.
 * 6) The City Gates (Die Tore der Stadt, 2004)
 * 7) *The City Gates introduces six city gates and six city gate cards to the deck. A player may during their turn pick up a city gate card, which allows them to, at a later point in time, place a city gate. City gates, which are placed on walls, allow buildings to be separated by walls while still being accessible – as if the wall did not exist.
 * 8) *The Diamonds introduces a new currency into the game: diamonds. Diamonds may be used in place of any currency when buying tiles but may not be combined with other currencies when doing so.
 * 9) *The Camps introduces eight camp tiles, which are bought as with other buildings. However, camps must be separated from the city by a wall, and may not be adjacent to each other if there is a wall in the way. Camps score points for every building tile in the direction of its walls.
 * 10) *The Characters adds ten character cards representing persons. These character cards are shuffled into the currency deck and, once drawn, are immediately auctioned off to the highest bidder and grant players special privileges or abilities.
 * 11) The Thief's Turn (Die Stunde der Diebe, 2005)
 * 12) *The City Walls adds eight city wall cards to the deck, which allows the player to add wall segments to tiles without them. Walls added in this manner, however, cannot be removed for the remainder of the game, and may not have city gates built on them.
 * 13) *The Thieves adds 12 thief cards, which are given to the players at the start of the game. A player may play a thief card between turns (except before their own turn) and take a currency card matching the type of thief card played.
 * 14) *The Change adds coins to the game. Whenever a player overpays for a building, half of the difference is refunded in coins of random currencies.  Coins are worth one unit of their particular currency, and may be used with cards to buy buildings.
 * 15) *The Street Trader adds traders and circular trader tiles. Trader tiles are given to each player at the start of the game, and are placed adjacent to any tile. If a player builds in the location of the trader tile, they may place a trader of a matching colour from the trader tile to the building (or exchange a trader for one of another color), and the trader tile is moved.  There are three traders on the trader tile at any given time.  Points are awarded based on the number of traders in building tiles.
 * 16) The Treasure Chamber (Die Schatzkammer des Kalifen, literally "The Caliphs' Treasury," 2006)
 * 17) *The Treasure Chamber adds treasure chests to the game. There are three treasure chambers, each containing four chests.  At any point in the game players may buy the chests in one chamber, and place the chests on buildings in their Alhambra matching the colour of the chests.  Players gain additional points for the number of chests in their Alhambra.
 * 18) *The Master Builders adds Master Builder cards, which are given to players at the start of the game. Master Builder cards may be used either as currency or may be discarded to move a building tile.
 * 19) *The Invaders adds invasion cards and scout cards to the game. Whenever scoring occurs, an invasion card is drawn.  Players lose points for each building tile on the edge of their Alhambra without a wall in the direction specified by the invasion card.  Scout cards may be used to look into the next invasion card, and may be taken whenever a building of the same type is bought.
 * 20) *The Bazaars adds bazaar tiles to the game. Bazaars, when drawn, are placed next to the building market, and may be bought (with exact change only) for the same price as the building of the corresponding currency type being sold. Bazaars score only in the final round of play, and score a point for each adjacent or diagonal building matching the colours on the bazaar.
 * 21) The Power of Sultan (Die Macht des Sultans, 2008)
 * 22) *The Caravanserai adds special Caravanserai cards to the game. Each player may buy up to two Caravanserai (which cost less if their Alhambra is more diverse).  Caravanserai cards provide income to the player, and appreciates in value the longer they are unused.
 * 23) *The Art of the Moorish adds culture counters to the game. Culture counters are obtained when a player builds at least two buildings of the same cost.  During a player's turn, a player may choose to develop culture, in addition to the existing actions.  Victory points are awarded during normal scoring based on the number of times that culture was developed as well as the number of buildings of the same cost that has been built.
 * 24) *The new Score Cards changes the relative score values of the six basic types of buildings in each of the three scoring phases.
 * 25) *The Power of Sultan adds Sultan cards to the game. Sultan cards may be bought as with any other building.  Once bought, a special die is rolled, and the building type corresponding to the rolled value (or the building type opposite to this value) is marked.  When a new building is drawn, players who have marked the particular type of building may use the Sultan card to immediately claim the tile and use it.
 * 26) The Falconers (Die Falkner, 2013)
 * 27) *The Falconers: players can now purchase and place falcons on intersections of four buildings in their Alhambra. The magnificent birds of prey will certainly delight their owners – with victory points.
 * 28) *The Portals: portals offer players new ways to build their walls and gain even more victory points for them, especially if they are part of their longest contiguous wall.
 * 29) *The Building Sites: allows players to purchase and place buildings for half price. Its walls are completed instantly but the building itself will only score once it's finished.
 * 30) *The Exchange Certificates: if a player overpays for a purchase he gains a voucher for the amount he overpaid in a currency of his choice.

Promotional expansion
The promotional expansion/module "The Magic Buildings" was also released. It adds 6 magic building tiles to the game. When drawn, these tiles can be placed to score extra points depending on their surrounding tiles. The promotional expansion/module "The Medina Buildings" adds 9 Medina building tiles to the game. During the scoring rounds, they award "negative" points to the player with the fewest of these tiles in his/her Alhambra.

Spin-offs
The success of Alhambra has also led Henn to release or re-release some other games under the Alhambra name and Moorish theme:
 * The Gardens of the Alhambra (Die Gärten der Alhambra, 2004) is an updated version of the tile-laying board game Carat, originally released in a more abstract form by db Spiele in 1993.
 * Troisdorf (2005) is a limited, re-themed edition of Alhambra, with identical rules, set in and only sold in Troisdorf, the town in which Queen Games is based.
 * Alhambra: The Dice Game (Alhambra: Das Würfelspiel, 2006) is a die-rolling game, broadly similar in play to Yahtzee.

Video game
A video game version was being developed by Vivendi Games for the Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade, but was cancelled due to "unforeseen difficulties".

Reception
Upon its release, Alhambra won the Spiel des Jahres the Schweizer Spielepreis for Family Games, the As d'Or, and the Essen Feather for the year of its release, It also placed second in the Deutscher Spiele Preis. The game was also reviewed by Pyramid, with the reviewer praising its components and describing it as a "simple-themed tile-laying and resource management game"''. ''

title: Alhambra (board game)


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