Samsonova saves two match points to oust Pegula at Berlin Open

BERLIN (AP) — Liudmila Samsonova saved two match points before beating third-ranked Jessica Pegula 6-7 (8), 7-5, 7-6 (5) on Wednesday to reach the quarterfinals of the Berlin Open.

The 20th-ranked Samsonova recorded 18 aces against the defending champion in a match that lasted 3 hours, 21 minutes at the grass-court tournament.

“I can't believe that I am here standing, it's incredible,” Samsonova said in her on-court interview. “Maybe with the adrenaline right now I'm OK, but I think later it's not going to be so OK.”

Samsonova, who beat Naomi Osaka in three sets Tuesday, saved two match points on her serve at 5-4 in the deciding set against Pegula.

Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka's match against qualifier Rebeka Masarova was suspended overnight because the court became slippery. Play was halted after Sabalenka won the first set 6-2.

Earlier, Ons Jabeur beat the fourth-seeded Jasmine Paolini 6-1, 6-3 in the second round. Paolini was runner-up at Wimbledon last year. Jabeur was a Wimbledon finalist in 2022 and 2023.

Paolini was playing for the first time since winning the French Open doubles title with fellow Italian Sara Errani. Paolini lost to Elina Svitolina in the fourth round of the French Open singles.

Italy's Jasmine Paolini returns the ball to Tunisia's Ons Jabeur during the Berlin WTA tennis tournament in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, June 18, 2025. (Andreas Gora/dpa via AP)

Switzerland's Rebeka Masarova slips on the grass as she plays Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka during their women's singles match of the Berlin WTA tennis tournament in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, June 18, 2025. (Andreas Gora/dpa via AP)

Belarus's Aryna Sabalenka, left, and Switzerland's Rebeka Masarova talk to Official Referee Norbert Peick about the abandonment of the match during the round of 16 singles tennis match at the WTA tour in Berlin, Wednesday, June 18, 2025. (Andreas Gora/dpa via AP)

USA's Jessica Pegula returns the ball to Russia's Ludmilla Samsonova during the Berlin WTA tennis tournament in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, June 18, 2025. (Andreas Gora/dpa via AP)

Russia's Ludmilla Samsonova celebrates winning her match against USA's Jessica Pegula at the end of their women's singles match of the Berlin WTA tennis tournament in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, June 18, 2025. (Andreas Gora/dpa via AP)

HONG KONG (AP) — Fireworks are typically a celebratory centerpiece of Hong Kong's New Year celebrations. Not this year.

The territory will ring in 2026 without spectacular and colorful explosions in the sky over its iconic Victoria Harbor after a massive fire in November that killed at least 161 people.

The city’s tourism board will instead host a music show Wednesday night featuring soft rock duo Air Supply and other singers in Central, a business district that also is home to the famous nightlife hub Lan Kwai Fong. The facades of eight landmarks will turn into giant countdown clocks presenting a three-minute light show at midnight.

Fireworks have long been part of the city’s celebrations for the New Year, Lunar New Year and National Day. The pyrotechnic displays against Hong Kong’s world-famous skyline of skyscrapers typically draw hundreds of thousands of people including many tourists to both sides of the promenade.

Rosanna Law, the territory's secretary for culture, sports and tourism, acknowledged Tuesday that having no fireworks would affect some hotel and restaurant businesses.

The financial hub’s worst blaze since 1948 broke out at Wang Fuk Court, in the northern suburban district of Tai Po, in late November. The apartment complex was undergoing a monthslong renovation project with buildings covered by bamboo scaffolding and green netting.

Authorities have pointed to the substandard netting and foam boards installed on windows as contributing factors in the fire’s rapid spread. Thousands of affected residents have moved to transitional homes, hotels and youth hostels, struggling to recover from the loss of lives and homes that took them years to buy. The casualties pained many residents across the city.

Past tragedies in Hong Kong have forced similar cancellations of fireworks. They include the 2013 National Day festivities following a vessel collision that killed 39 people on Oct. 1, 2012, and the 2018 Lunar New Year celebration after a bus crash that left 19 dead. During the 2019 anti-government protests and the COVID-19 pandemic, multiple displays also were scrapped.

The origin of fireworks is believed to date to China in the second century B.C., when someone discovered bamboo stalks exploded with loud bangs when thrown into fire, creating the first natural “firecrackers,” according to the American Pyrotechnics Association, a U.S. trade group.

The Guinness World Records organization says the first accurately documented firework, the Chinese firecracker, was created by Li Tian, a monk from China’s Tang dynasty dating to around 618 to 907 C.E. Li discovered that putting gunpowder in enclosed hollow bamboo stems created loud explosions and bound crackers together to create the traditional New Year firecrackers to drive out evil spirits, Guinness said.

People gather at Lan Kwai Fong to celebrate the start of 2026 in the Central district of Hong Kong, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)

People attend the New Year countdown event to celebrate the start of 2026 in the Central district of Hong Kong, on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)

People take selfies at Lan Kwai Fong to celebrate the start of 2026 in the Central district of Hong Kong, on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)

People pose for photographs at Lan Kwai Fong to celebrate the start of 2026 in the Central district of Hong Kong, on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)

FILE - Fireworks explode over Victoria Harbour to celebrate the start of 2025 at Tsim Sha Tsui in Hong Kong, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei, File)