Texas Wild can’t match Washington Kastles‘ star power

The Texas Wild had a new face with healthy legs, and plenty of heart, but couldn’t quite match the star power of the Washington Kastles on Wednesday night, falling 23-18.

No. 112-ranked Tim Smyczek, a native of Milwaukee, joined the Wild on Wednesday, replacing Alex Bogomolov Jr., who has been slowed by a groin injury.

Smyczek fought hard in his debut, but lost a tight set to Bobby Reynolds in men’s singles 5-4 in a tiebreaker. The Kastles (7-1) took command with multiple Grand Slam champions Venus Williams and Martina Hingis winning women’s doubles 5-2 over Texas (5-4).

Texas clawed back with a 5-4 win in a tiebreaker in mixed doubles, with Aisam Qureshi and Anabel Medina Garrigues edging Leander Paes and Hingis, and Garrigues fought back from 3-1 down to beat Williams in the third tiebreaker of the night 5-4 in women’s singles.

Washington put the match away, however, with Paes and Reynolds winning the final set of men’s doubles 5-2.

This story was originally published July 16, 2014 at 9:42 PM with the headline "Texas Wild can’t match Washington Kastles‘ star power."