The Palm Beach Post

Wrestling legend Sammartino dies

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He was profession­al wrestling’s ultimate good guy. The son of Italian immigrants, Bruno Sammartino fled the Nazis as a child and built a career beating a string of bad guys that thrilled fans and made him reign as the conscienti­ous champ for more than a decade.

Before the flash of The Hulkster, the electricit­y of The Rock and the foul-mouth of Stone Cold, all Sammartino required to become wrestling’s biggest box office draw was a pair of tights, boots and an honest promo that made fans believe in the most illegitima­te of sports.

Sammartino, profession­al wrestling’s “Living Legend” and one of its longest-reigning champions, has died. He was 82.

“One of the finest men I knew, in life and in business,” WWE chairman Vince McMahon said . “Bruno Sammartino proved that hard work can overcome even the most difficult of circumstan­ces. He will be missed.”

Family friend and former wrestling announcer Christophe­r Cruise said Sammartino died Wednesday morning and had been hospitaliz­ed for two months.

The WWE opened a live event Wednesday night with a 10-bell salute for Sammartino, whose name on the marquee about guaranteed a squared circle sellout in the 1960s and 1970s. He held the World Wide Wrestling Federation championsh­ip for more than 11 years (4,040 days) over two title runs. a 6-1, 6-3 win against Aljaz Bedene 6-1, 6-3.

Nadal, who saved two break points in the fifth game of the match, is chasing a record-extending 11th title here. The top-ranked Spaniard next faces big-serving Russian Karen Khachanov.

Djokovic, who will next face fifth-seeded Dominic Thiem of Austria, says his right elbow is pain-free for the first time in two years. Djokovic has won the title twice, including when he ended Nadal’s 46-match winning streak by winning the 2013 title. They are on course to meet in the quarterfin­als.

Second-seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia, the Australian Open runner-up, had seven aces in a 6-3, 7-6 (4) win against Fernando Verdasco.

ODDS AND ENDS

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