Capitals blanked twice in loss to Texas

   It's rare to lose a set 5-0 in World TeamTennis.
   It's even rarer to lose two sets 5-0 in a WTT match.
   And it's rarer still to lose two consecutive sets 5-0.
   That's what happened to the Sacramento Capitals on Sunday night in a 23-10 shellacking by the Texas Wild in Dallas. Substitutes Irina Falconi and Ryan Sweeting were shut out in the fourth and fifth sets, respectively.
   Sacramento's Megan Moulton-Levy and Mark Knowles opened the match with a 5-3 victory in mixed doubles, but Texas (4-2) won the last four sets by a combined score of 20-5.
   The Capitals have lost three straight matches after winning their first three.
   Falconi replaced Taylor Townsend (strained abdominal muscle), and Sweeting again took the place of marquee player Mardy Fish (groin injury).
   Falconi, who also lost in women's doubles, played her first match of the season for Sacramento. Sweeting has lost all six sets in which he has played for the Capitals this season, three in men's singles and three in men's doubles.
   The troubles of Falconi and Sweeting, aren't terribly surprising. Both have plunged in the world rankings after reaching career highs in 2011.
   Falconi, a 23-year-old Atlanta resident, has fallen from No. 73 to No. 164. That's nothing compared to Sweeting. The Fort Lauderdale, Fla., resident, who turned 26 on Sunday, has plummeted from No. 64 to No. 525.
   Fish's stint with Sacramento will end this week, if it hasn't already ended. Fortunately for the Capitals, Sam Querrey is scheduled to play in their last four matches of the regular season. Querrey leads all American men with a world ranking of No. 19 in singles.
   The Capitals will visit Orange County (3-3) tonight after beating the Breakers 22-14 last week in the Sacramento area. Following an off day on Tuesday, the Capitals will host Texas at Sunrise Marketplace Outdoor Pavilion in Citrus Heights.
   Bob and Mike Bryan, the No. 1 doubles team in the world and identical twin sons of Capitals coach Wayne Bryan, are scheduled to play for the Wild. The Bryan brothers, 35, recently became the first doubles team to hold all four Grand Slam titles and the Olympic gold medal.
   Ex-Stanford star wins title -- Nicole Gibbs, who turned pro last month after winning her second straight NCAA singles title as a Stanford junior, won the $50,000 Yakima (Wash.) Regional Hospital Challenger.
   Gibbs, seeded eighth, beat unseeded Ivana Lisjak of Croatia 6-1, 6-4 for her second title in a professional tournament.
   Lisjak, who lives in Las Vegas, gained notoriety the week before in the $50,000 FSP Gold River Women's Challenger in the Sacramento area. After losing in the semifinals, Lisjak threw her racket, which skipped off the court and hit a lineswoman in the face. The official did not need medical attention.
   Mayo Hibi, the 17-year-old Gold River champion, lost in the second round of the Yakima Challenger to unseeded Storm Sanders of Australia. That ended Hibi's winning streak at 11 matches and two titles.

TEXAS 23, CAPITALS 10

In Dallas

   Mixed doubles -- Megan Moulton-Levy and Mark Knowles (Capitals) def. Darija Jurak and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi, 5-3.
   Women's doubles -- Eugenie Bouchard and Jurak (Texas) def. Irina Falconi and Moulton-Levy, 5-3.
   Men's doubles -- Alex Bogomolov Jr. and Qureshi (Texas) def. Knowles and Ryan Sweeting, 5-2.
   Women's singles -- Bouchard (Texas) def. Falconi, 5-0.
   Men's singles -- Bogomolov (Texas) def. Sweeting, 5-0.