ROME: Alexander Zverev reached his 18th Masters semifinal 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 No. 5 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.

Zverev’s moment of concern came in just the third game on center 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.

Zverev, 27, suffered a serious ankle injury at the 2022 French Open after falling on the clay of Roland Garros during his semifinal against Rafael Nadal and missed the rest of the season.

On 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.

“Taylor 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,” Zverev said.

“I still have a little bit of pain, so once the adrenaline settles I’m going to check out tomorrow what it is. But definitely happy with the win.”

Zverev is the highest-ranked man left in the event after Daniil Medvedev’s elimination on Tuesday.

As well as Djokovic’s exit, Italian world No. 2 Jannik Sinner and third-ranked Carlos Alcaraz both dropped out injured before the tournament.

Holger Rune, who lost last year’s final to Medvedev, Madrid champion Andrey Rublev — ranked sixth in the world — and beaten finalist Felix Auger-Aliassime have also been eliminated.

Chile’s Tabilo will play his first-ever Masters 1000 semifinal at the age of 26, after seeing off unseeded Zhang Zhizhen of China 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 26 minutes.

“I just can’t believe it right now, still trying to soak this in... Definitely an unforgettable two weeks for me,” said a delighted Tabilo, the 29th seed who knocked out top-ranked Djokovic on Sunday.

“It’s definitely the best tennis of my life right now, trying to keep a poker face there because inside I’m just so nervous, every time trying to close out the match gets a little bit tighter.”

Tabilo, in fact, had far less trouble on Wednesday than he did in his battle with Karen Khachanov in the previous round, not facing a single break point on his way to the biggest match of his career at the last major tournament before the French Open.

Women’s second seed Aryna Sabalenka needed just an hour and 13 minutes to see off Jelena Ostapenko 6-2, 6-4 on her way to the semis, improving her record against her Latvian opponent to three wins and no defeats.

Sabalenka will next take on Miami Open winner Danielle Collins who eased past Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 6-3.

“With this amazing atmosphere and with this amazing support... that’s why I’m super motivated here and that’s why I always say that this is the dream tournament for me to win,” said Sabalenka.

The 26-year-old could get a rematch of the Madrid final which she lost in dramatic fashion to world number one Iga Swiatek earlier this month.

Sabalenka, who has won the two most recent Australian Opens, was in a different class to Ostapenko, a former French Open winner, who could do nothing in the face of some punishing hitting.

Rome is the first time since the 2013 French Open that the top three women have reached the last four of a WTA event of 250 level or higher, with Swiatek and world number three Coco Gauff in the other semifinal on Thursday.

The 30-year-old Collins, ranked 15 in the world, announced in January that this would be her final season on the tour before retiring.

She now has 19 wins in her last 20 matches, dating back to the start of Miami where she captured her first WTA 1000 title.

Her only loss since came against Sabalenka in three sets in the fourth round of the Madrid Open.

BAQUBA, Iraq: When car bomb survivor Najlah Imad first took up table tennis, her relatives warned against it. But a decade later, the Iraqi teenager who lost three limbs is gunning for gold at the 2024 Paralympic Games.

“Table tennis was a turning point. Since I started playing, my life has changed,” the 19-year-old athlete told AFP.

Najlah was just three years old when a 2008 sticky bomb ripped into her father’s car — an ex-military — in the city of Baquba northeast of Baghdad.

In a split second, like tens of thousands of Iraqis, Najlah became a victim of bombs that have ripped through the conflict-scarred country for decades.

She lost most of her right leg, her left leg at the knee, and her right forearm.

Remarkably, she now recounts the life-altering incident with a sense of calm.

“Table tennis has improved my mental health,” she said from a dilapidated sports center in Baquba.

Najlah’s face lights up when she speaks of her sports journey. But her smile disappears when she stands on her prosthetics in front of the blue table, focused and ready to speedily hit the ball with utmost precision.

The young athlete, with black hair cut to the neck, discovered her love for the game at the age of 10 when a trainer visited her house looking to form a local Paralympic team.

Her family was initially hesitant and cautioned her, predicting that she would be exhausted and “wouldn’t achieve anything.”

But the warnings did not stop her.

“When I first started, I saw other people with disabilities playing sports despite losing limbs,” she said.

She admired their positive energy. “They were always smiling, which encouraged me.”

After six months of intensive training, Najlah played her first match in a local Baghdad tournament.

“I won,” exclaimed Najlah. “I was the surprise of the competition.”

A first triumph fueled her passion, and she became a fierce competitor. Over the years, Najlah has participated in 30 international tournaments, winning medals and trophies, which she proudly displays on a shelf in her modest home.

In 2021, she went to Tokyo for the Paralympic Games, and in 2023, she won a gold medal in the 2022 Asian Para Games in China.

A rising star, Iraq’s Paralympic committee provides Najlah with a modest monthly stipend and travel expenses to competitions when the budget allows it.

Najlah trains twice a week in Baquba and another two days in Baghdad with her father by her side. She also travels abroad to practice ahead of international competitions taking advantage of better sports facilities.

In March, she traveled to Qatar to prepare for the Paris Paralympics in August.

“I always aim for gold,” Najlah said.

Despite her success, she still trains at Baquba’s modestly equipped sports center where walls are adorned with posters of international table tennis players.

Eight players share four secondhand ping-pong tables in a squalid hall with broken windows in a country where decades of conflicts, neglect and endemic corruption have left the infrastructure in despair.

The center sourced the tables from a junkyard. “We had to repair them to use them,” lamented trainer Hossam Al-Bayati, who joined the national Paralympic coaches team in 2016.

Najlah “will represent Iraq” in the Paralympics, but the tables she trains on are flimsy,” said Bayati. “This is wrong.”

During a recent training session at the Baquba center, Najlah wrapped her right arm at the elbow with a black cloth to help pad her crutch as she carefully attached her prosthesis. Once standing, she gripped her racket with her left hand and smoothly struck a ball into play.

Initially concerned about his daughter’s choice, Najlah’s father was against her playing the sport. However, after witnessing her first triumph, he quickly realized the importance of standing by her and endorsing her passion.

“She resisted and she challenged herself and the world,” the proud father Imad Lafta said.

Najlah’s dedication and hard work have paid off.

“Whenever she walks through the streets, people recognize her and congratulate us. Some girls even ask to take photos with her,” the father said.

Despite her busy training schedule, Najlah remains an avid reader and is supposed to graduate from high school this year.

As Najlah sets her eyes on the gold medal in Paris, her father is confident she will excel.

“When she promises something, she delivers,” he said.