Dukes Come Riding Home and Defeat the Capitals : Team Tennis: After three days’ rest, Newport Beach holds on to beat Sacramento, 26-20.

After five road matches in seven days, the Newport Beach Dukes needed a break, and Thursday night their return provided it.

The Sacramento Capitals, who entered the match with a half-game lead over the Dukes for second place in Team Tennis’ West Division, didn’t figure to give Newport Beach a restful match. The Dukes won the first three sets, then held on for a 26-20 victory in front of about 400 at the John Wayne Tennis Club.

Newport Beach survived a scare when, after taking an 18-10 lead in the first three sets, Amy Frazier, who has the league’s best record among the women, lost to the second-ranked player, Tami Whitlinger, 6-2. Frazier’s only games came when she broke Whitlinger. Frazier never held serve.

Trailing 20-16, the Capitals’ women’s doubles team of Maria Lindstrom and Whitlinger then broke Sophie Amiach to take a 1-0 lead in the final set and cut the Dukes’ lead to three games.

But the Dukes immediately broke back and Frazier and Amiach won, 6-4, to make the Dukes’ homecoming a good one.

Actually, in Team Tennis with its one-month season, home is often a misleading concept and a home match is often a misnomer. Of the Dukes, only Roger Smith, who lives in Costa Mesa, has his off-season residence in Orange County. Others live far from Southern California.

But the Dukes were glad to get back and their three-day rest after their loss Sunday in New Jersey no doubt helped.

“If you give us a little bit of rest, this team is ready to perform,” Dukes Coach Greg Patton said.

Smith certainly appeared ready. First he and Marty Davis defeated Michiel Schapers and Robert Van’t Hof, 6-3, in men’s doubles to open the match.

Smith and Davis, the league’s second-ranked men’s doubles team, broke Schapers and Van’t Hof to go up, 4-2. After each team held serve, Davis served for the set, winning easily behind four Duke overheads.

Then in the next men’s singles set against Schapers, Smith won, 6-5, by winning the tiebreaker, 5-2. Going into the set, Schapers was the second-ranked men’s doubles player; Smith was ranked eighth.

In mixed doubles, the Dukes’ Amiach and Davis defeated Van’t Hof and Lindstrom, 6-2, giving Newport Beach an 18-10 lead. Patton said before the match he had thought he would have been happy with a two- or three-point lead after three sets. As it turned out, the Dukes needed the extra cushion.

The victory moved the Dukes (6-2) into second place, a half-game ahead of the Capitals (6-3).

And tonight, the Dukes get a shot at the Los Angeles Strings (6-1), the division’s first-place team. But the Dukes are hitting the road again. The match is at 7:30 p.m. at the Great Western Forum.