Grand Slammed: When sportsmen (and woman) get gamey

A triumvirate of tennis players emerged from this U.S. Open with dubious sportsmanship, behavior, or words. That's saying something in light of all the code violations handed down over two weeks' time. Frankly, Roger Federer and Philipp Petzschner should thank their lucky stars for Serena Williams, who may have bailed them out from further scolding in the press and from persistent fans. To review:

ROGER FEDERER: Surely this is the least offensive of the trio. Yes, the current GOAT was less than complimentary in addressing what he basically called Novak Djokovic's lucky slapshot that fought off the first match point Fed held deep in their semi. Even Patrick McEnroe chose to publicly call out the most decorated male Slam singles player ever. Perhaps Fed was most miffed about this fact, or about that brash, ballsy shot itself ("The Shot seemed to offend Federer"). In general, Fed is, like Rafael Nadal, asking himself this: "How do you solve a problem like Djokovic?" To be sure, he is asking it aloud, and not delicately. Surely there's no love lost between Roger and the Djoking familia, but come 2012, Federer—and the rest of the ATP field—will have to find a way to slow up the Djuggernaut. (Hat tip to Doug Robson of USA Today for coining that moniker.)

PHILIPP PETZSCHNER: The Deutsch doubles ace but all-around solid pro won his second Slam title with partner Jurgen Melzer of Austria at Flushing this year. The duo hoisted the 2010 Wimbledon trophy as well. And so, especially having been in such a high-stakes situation before, the German should have known better than to basically steal a point from his final foes, the Polish pair of Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski, by refusing to acknowledge that a ball went off his shin before landing in:

Truly, what a loser of a winner—both on that ball itself and overall. Petzschner didn't own up to it even when challenged and asked by the Poles, reminiscent of Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez's ostentatious lack of honesty against Serena in the 2009 French Open. Parting shot: Petzschner also hit a ball in the direction of an official during this Open, inciting a $3,500 fine. In short, Petz turned a putz during this event.

SERENA WILLIAMS: That brings us to the de facto world No. 1. (Or is she?) After her tense match against MJMS in Paris in '09, Serena had this: "I'm like one of those girls on a reality show that has all the drama, and everyone in the house hates them because no matter what they do, like, drama follows them. I don't want to be that girl."

Well, she doesn't—but she does. Serena relishes being the center of attention, with famous folks like Ciara, Kim Kardashian, and sister Venus in her box. Then came the latest installment of the Battle of the Biceps. Samantha Stosur flat-out won that final, even if Richard Williams offered that his daughter was "tired." Still, the tennis court is a stage, and Serena made the most in that otherwise rather routine final, laying into chair umpire Eva Asderaki after being called for a "hindrance" in barking "Come on!" before Stosur had a hit on a ball that Williams thought was a winner:

Granted, the ball was not coming back, but still, Serena was wrong. It had happened before, incredibly even under that same Greek chair ump's watch, but that was a match that went by the WTA-level rulebook, while this U.S. Open final was governed by the Grand Slams' bible: the International Tennis Federation (ITF) rulebook. Serena was hardly contrite in , but to her credit, she earned back some good grace by doling out kudos to Stosur and even sitting down beside her after the match to chat. "Pretty classy," Stosur said. Even so, Serena was charged $2,000 for her "I hate you" comment, replete with pointed-racquet gesture, toward Asderaki. That's Serena: one by one, making tennis officials famous.

DISHONORABLE MENTION: Mike Bryan—who would have thought? One-half of the best doubles tandem ever was handed a $10,000 fine for touching an official off-court after the top-seeded Bryan brothers' first-round doubles loss, their earliest exit ever at the U.S. Open. Very strange, and the Daily Spinster will keep his ear to the ground on this one as more details emerge. For now it seems a bit murky, but Mike isn't fighting the fine.

Here's to consistently sterling sportsmanship in 2012 Grand Slam play. A pipe dream perhaps, but sometimes in New York it seemed that it could only get better.

—Jonathan Scott (@jonscott9)