Capitals edge St. Louis, take conference lead

   After starting 1-3, the Sacramento Capitals find themselves in first place in the Western Conference halfway through the World TeamTennis regular season.
   Sacramento beat host St. Louis 20-19 in a Supertiebreaker on Wednesday night for its third straight victory and wrested the conference lead from the Aces.
   Mark Knowles and Dusan Vemic won 5-1 in men's doubles, ending a four-set losing streak, to give the Capitals (4-3) a 13-9 lead at intermission. But St. Louis (4-4) won 5-3 in women's doubles and mixed doubles to tie the score 19-19 after regulation.
   Knowles and Vania King then beat Jean-Julien Rojer and Liezel Huber 7-2 in the Supertiebreaker.  
   Knowles, a 39-year-old Bahamian, and Huber, a 34-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen from South Africa, formerly were ranked No. 1 in doubles. All but Rojer have won Wimbledon doubles titles.
   Huber and Rojer served for the match at 4-2 in the final set, but Knowles and King broke serve to give Sacramento a 19-18 overall lead. Huber and Rojer then held serve to force the Supertiebreaker.
    King, the 2009 WTT Female MVP as a member of the Springfield (Mo.) Lasers, was playing in her second match since joining the Capitals on Tuesday for her second season with the team. She rested the week after Wimbledon.
   St. Louis suffered a blow on the day of its season opener when reigning WTT Female MVP Lindsay Davenport, 35, announced she was pregnant with her third child and under doctor's orders to skip the season.
   Sacramento will face identical twins Bob and Mike Bryan, the No. 1 doubles team in the world, and WTT defending champion Kansas City (3-4) for the second time in three days tonight in Kansas City, Mo.
   The Explorers will try to avenge a 23-12 loss Tuesday night to the host Capitals, coached by Wayne Bryan, Bob and Mike's father.

Capitals 20, St. Louis 19 (STB)
   Men’s singles – Roman Borvanov (Aces) def. Dusan Vemic (Capitals) 5-3.
   Women’s singles – Vania King (Capitals) def. Maria Sanchez (Aces) 5-3.
   Men’s doubles – Mark Knowles and Dusan Vemic (Capitals) def. Roman Borvanov and Jean-Julien Rojer (Aces) 5-1.
   Women’s doubles – Liezel Huber and Sanchez (Aces) def. King and Yasmin Schnack (Capitals) 5-3.
   Mixed doubles – Rojer and Huber (Aces) def. Knowles and King (Capitals) 5-3.
   Supertiebreaker – Knowles and King (Capitals) def. Huber and Rojer (Aces) 1-0 (7-2).