NEWS » said. "I think it will really hit home to them what the true

NEW YORK -- At heart, Caroline Wozniacki is a marathoner. The two-time US Open finalist was one long before she ran the 2014 New York City marathon on a lark and finished in an outstanding 3:27. The 26-year-old Dane runs, runs, then runs some more, retrieving and returning shots most of her rivals in tennis can only watch fly by.Madison Keys, a gifted 21-year-old, is a different breed of player and athlete. She has more of a sprinters game, based on short bursts of brilliant shot-making with interludes of ordinary and sometimes even poor play.Here at the US Open, No. 8 Keys had tiptoed along the edge of disaster, rebounding from threatening deficits in two of her three previous matches. On Sunday, Wozniacki jogged up alongside Keys and shoved her into the abyss, winning their fourth-round clash in just an hour and 18 minutes, 6-3, 6-4.Count this one as another major step in Wozniackis comeback from an ankle injury that helped drive her ranking down to its current No. 74. Wozniacki is taking her comeback one step at a time. Like a veteran distance runner, she isnt craning her neck, trying to spot the finish line. She knows that a full-on renaissance calls for stamina and patience.To be honest, at this point, Im very much like I dont care [what my ranking is], the beaming winner said after she won. Because if Im not in the top five, I feel like its not where I want to be. So at that point, whether Im 20 in the world or 100 in the world, it doesnt matter. Im going to play the same people anyway.She also professed that she has self-belief, and said its all that matters, boldly adding, I think it just sucks for some of the other players who have to play me early.A rueful Keys agreed. Surprisingly, this was their first meeting, and it worked in Wozniackis favor: Its different playing and seeing it on TV, Keys said. [I was] feeling how deep shes hitting the ball and feeling that I cant get on the offense right away.This was the fifth consecutive major championship in which Keys, who is often touted as the heir apparent to Venus?and Serena Williams, faltered in the fourth round. But unlike a few of those losses, this was neither shocking nor complicated.Wozniacki was the year-end No. 1 for two consecutive years, starting in 2010. She is fourth among active players with 23 singles titles and owns the dubious record of having the most career singles titles without having won a Grand Slam event. But shes still just 26.The ankle injury that interrupted Wozniackis career this spring (and caused her to miss a Grand Slam tournament for the first time) provided her with an unplanned opportunity to hit the reset button. Wozniacki has a reputation as the fun-loving BFF of Serena Williams, but as Wozniackis marathon adventure suggests, she has always been driven. The recent break left her feeling a little more mellow.Before it was all about, OK, I have to win this; I have to do that, Wozniacki said. Now Im like, I dont have to do anything. You know, whatever is meant to be, its going to be, and Im just going to give myself the best shot out there. And I think Im enjoying the whole atmosphere and everything else so much more.While reveling in the atmosphere, Wozniacki also provided the young American with a multidimensional lesson with one working premise: Be aggressive but keep the ball in the court. Keys has Part A down pat; its the consistency that flummoxes her.It was a very fine line between being patient, consistent and also trying to be aggressive and not step too far behind the baseline, Wozniacki said of her strategy. My main thing was to just go for my shots. Dont hold back.The barrage unnerved Keys. I feel like I was making mistakes and then getting behind in the score and trying to hit winners just to kind of quickly get back into games, she said. I dont think I played very well. I dont think I played smart, which I think is the biggest thing. I kind of let the panic set in and tried to go too quick.Keys had just one break point. Her unforced errors exceeded Wozniackis by more than a multiple of four (33-7). Keys serve is already one of the most feared weapons in tennis; it rivals Serenas own. But heres the key stat: Wozniacki put 81 percent of her serve returns into play (57 of 70). Meanwhile, Keys managed to return just 66 percent (31 of 47) of Wozniackis deliveries.True, Wozniackis serve is improved. But the theory that all Keys still needs to break through is more Grand Slam experience and a greater ability to win when she doesnt have her A-game is wearing thin.The one thing all great players bring to the table almost every day is a baseline level of consistency. Wozniacki still hasnt won a major, but she has that fundamental ability to keep the ball between the stripes. She may never have the firepower of a Keys or even a Petra Kvitova, but Woz is young enough to win a major. She may finally win one next Sunday if she can continue to successfully marry consistency and aggression.Its tempting to think that Wozniackis biggest opportunities have passed her by. But this is a woman who can run and run. Shes a marathoner. She may catch up with them yet. Custom Houston Astros Jerseys . Rob Manfred, baseballs chief operating officer, testified last week during the grievance filed by the players union to overturn Rodriguezs 211-game suspension. A person familiar with the hearing, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press on Saturday that Manfred testified the sport wasnt concerned whether Bosch distributed performance-enhancing drugs to minors because MLBs interest was his relationship with players under investigation. 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The 26-year-old finished last season with Clevelands Triple-A affiliate in Columbus after signing with the Indians in August. TORONTO -- The widow of former Toronto Blue Jays broadcaster Tom Cheek says her late husband would be "humbled" by the award she will accept in his honour this weekend. Cheek, who died in 2005, broadcast 4,306 consecutive Blue Jays games, including the clubs two World Series victories, from Torontos first contest until June 2, 2004. Shirley Cheek will be in Cooperstown, N.Y., on Saturday with her family to accept the 2013 Ford C. Frick award for broadcasting excellence as part of the Baseball Hall of Fames induction weekend. "I think Tom would be humbled and say There are others that are more deserving," she said on a conference call Monday. "Thats just how Tom felt. He always felt that we was doing the job that he loved to do, that it was an honour for him to be doing it, a boyhood dream." Cheeks most memorable call for Blue Jays fans was his description of Joe Carters home run that won the clubs second straight World Series in 1993 when his deep baritone voice shouted into the microphone: "Touch em all Joe! Youll never hit a bigger home run in your life." A recent inductee into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, Cheek was added to the Blue Jays Level of Excellence at Rogers Centre in 2005. "I dont think Tom ever really realized the impact he had until the day they put his name up on the Level of Excellence. He realized at that point how important he was to the club," said Shirley Cheek, who will deliver an acceptance speech Saturday. "He had so many people say he was the voice of summer, I listened to you on the lake, I listened to you on the tractor out in Saskatoon..dddddddddddd "I think it really hit home when he saw that his name was going up on the wall and how much he had meant to the fans listening on radio." Shirley Cheek says it will be an emotional weekend, but she hopes that her grandchildren will begin understand what the familys patriarch meant to Canadian baseball fans. "The younger ones really dont know much about him, so I think theyre kind of in awe about all of this," she said. "I think it will really hit home to them what the true meaning of what their grandfather did for Canada and for the Toronto Blue Jays." Former Montreal Expos broadcaster Dave Van Horne won the Frick award in 2011, making Cheek the second recipient who spent the majority of his career with a Canadian team. Cheek was born June 13, 1939, in Pensacola, Fla., and began work as a backup announcer to Van Horne on Expos broadcasts. He landed the job as the radio voice of the expansion Blue Jays in 1976 and became a hallmark of summer in Toronto. Cheek called every regular-season and post-season Blue Jays game from April 7, 1977, through June 2, 2004, ending his streak to attend his fathers funeral. He sensed he was not right physically upon his return and underwent surgery to remove a brain tumour on June 13, 2004 -- his 65th birthday. Unfortunately some of the tumour was unreachable and he died a little more than a year later. "(What) I remember most about my husband was his sense of humour, his one-liners. He was famous for his one-liners," Shirley Cheek said. "(But) I miss his voice most of all. "He had such an amazing voice." ' ' '