ROME
\nAlexander Zverev reached his 18th Masters semi-final in Rome on Wednesday but only after a worrying fall which sparked memories of the horror injury he suffered at the French Open two years ago.
\nThe world number five from Germany defeated Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-3 to set up a last-four duel with Alejandro Tabilo, the Chilean journeyman who had stunned Novak Djokovic earlier in the tournament.
\nZverev\u2019s moment of concern came in just the third game on centre court at the Foro Italico when he fell on the clay and landed on his front. The 2017 champion cut his left wrist and a finger in the tumble and required treatment from the tournament physio before he continued the match.
\nZverev, 27, suffered a serious ankle injury at the 2022 French Open after falling on the clay of Roland Garros during his semi-final against Rafael Nadal and missed the rest of the season.
\nOn Wednesday, however, he was able to dust himself down to defeat Fritz in 90 minutes, firing 20 winners with six aces and not facing a single break point.
\n\u201cTaylor has been one of the best players on clay this year. To have a win like that is great for me, especially after the fall,\u201d Zverev said. \u201cI still have a little bit of pain, so once the adrenaline settles I\u2019m going to check out tomorrow what it is. But definitely happy with the win.\u201d Zverev is the highest-ranked man left in the event after Daniil Medvedev\u2019s elimination on Tuesday.
\nAs well as Djokovic\u2019s exit, Italian world number two Jannik Sinner and third-ranked Carlos Alcaraz both dropped out injured before the tournament.
\nHolger Rune, who lost last year\u2019s final to Medvedev, Madrid champion Andrey Rublev \u2014 ranked sixth in the world \u2014 and beaten finalist Felix Auger-Aliassime have also been eliminated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ROME Alexander Zverev reached his 18th Masters semi-final in Rome on Wednesday but only after a worrying fall which sparked memories of the horror injury he suffered at the French Open two years ago. The world number five from Germany defeated Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-3 to set up a last-four duel with Alejandro Tabilo, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":407554,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-407539","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n