Capitals fall out of first place; Fish withdraws

   The Sacramento Capitals have had better days.
   Their marquee player, Mardy Fish, on Thursday withdrew from tonight's match with an abdominal muscle injury. They lost to the host Kansas City Explorers 20-15, ending their three-match winning streak. And they dropped out of first place in the Western Conference of World TeamTennis.
   The good news for Sacramento is that none of the setbacks is serious.
   Fish, the highest-ranked American among men or women at No. 9 in the world, was scheduled to make his only appearance of the season for Sacramento at 7:30 p.m. against rival Newport Beach at Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights.
   The Capitals (4-4) are fully capable of beating Newport Beach (3-5) without Fish, especially at home, although the Breakers will be more rested. They played at home Wednesday night and were off Thursday. Sacramento, in contrast, will fly home today.
   Against Kansas City, Sacramento's Dusan Vemic won 5-2 in men's singles to tie the overall score 15-15 entering the last set. Then Bob and Mike Bryan, the identical twin sons of Capitals coach Wayne Bryan and probably the greatest men's doubles team ever, stepped on the court.
   So much for any notions of victory for Sacramento. The Bryans crushed Mark Knowles and Vemic 5-0 in 13 minutes to help Kansas City avenge a 23-12 loss to the host Capitals on Tuesday.
   In that match, newly crowned Wimbledon women's doubles champion Kveta Peschke of the Explorers lost her two sets by a combined score of 10-2. This time, she won her two sets by a combined 10-5.
   Still, Sacramento trails first-place St. Louis (5-4) by only one-half match with six matches left in the regular season for the Capitals.  
   Kansas City 20, Capitals 15
   Women’s singles -- Vania King, Capitals, def. Madison Brengle, Kansas City, 5-3.
   Women’s doubles -- Kveta Peschke and Brengle, Kansas City, def. Yasmin Schnack and King, Capitals, 5-3.
   Mixed doubles -- Bob Bryan and Peschke, Kansas City, def. Mark Knowles and King, Capitals, 5-2.
   Men’s singles -- Dusan Vemic, Capitals, def. Alex Kuznetsov, Kansas City, 5-2.
   Men’s doubles -- Mike Bryan and Bob Bryan, Kansas City, def. Knowles and Vemic, Capitals, 5-0.