The wackiest U.S. Open that I can remember concluded a day late, with a king falling off his throne and a queen succumbing to her emotions...and the rules of the game.

The mighty Roger Federer was two points away from nailing down a remarkable sixth straight U.S. Open title, but 20-year-old South American Juan Martin del Potro spoiled his party by stunning the Swiss superstar in a memorable five- set affair.

Serena Williams, meanwhile, was seeking a second straight, and fourth overall, Open title, but was unable to get past Belgian mother/wild card Kim Clijsters in the semifinals.

The way that Serena lost, however, is how this particular Open will be remembered.

In a bizarre match-ending twist, Serena lost to Clijsters after being penalized a point for unsportsmanlike conduct. Unfortunately for the American superstar, the penalty point turned out to be a match point.

Serena was serving, down 4-6, 5-6, 15-30, in the 12th game of the second set when a line judge called an untimely foot fault on the powerful American. The controversial call brought the score to 15-40, or match point, and sent Serena into a profanity-laced tirade directed at the line judge, which forced officials to give the American her second unsportsmanlike warning of the match, thus, by the rules, costing her a penalty point, and, in this case, the match.

Earlier in the night, Serena received a racquet violation warning after smashing her stick on the court at Ashe Stadium. And obviously that act came back to haunt her.

I would say so!

The Wimbledon and Aussie Open champion Serena was fined $10,000 and wound up issuing several apologies, but we won't forget that embarrassing image (approaching the line judge while waving her racquet and giving her a good dressing down) any time soon.

Serena's always been a great tennis player, but she's never been what you would call a good sport...so I guess the whole thing doesn't surprise me.

Clijsters went on to claim her second U.S. Open title by beating rising Danish teen Caroline Wozniacki in a ho-hum final, as Kimmy became the first mother to capture a major singles title since Aussie great Evonne Goolagong turned the trick 29 years earlier at Wimbledon.

The 26-year-old Clijsters just returned to the WTA Tour last month after retiring from it in the spring of 2007 in order to start a family, which she did with her former Villanova basketball player husband Brian Lynch, who would join Clijsters for the on-court victory celebration at Ashe, as did their one- and-a-half-year-old daughter, Jada.

It was only Clijsters' third tournament back, as she became the first-ever wild card and unseeded player to capture America's Open and took out both of the Williams sisters en route to the unlikely championship.

By the way, Clijsters is currently riding a 14-match winning streak at the Open, where she hadn't played since winning her first major there four years ago. She skipped the '06 edition due to injury, and was enjoying her brief retirement in '07 and last year before making her return trip to Corona Park two weeks ago.

The three-time finalist Clijsters was a U.S. Open runner-up to her arch-rival and fellow Belgian Justine Henin back in 2003.

Federer, meanwhile, was shocked by the sixth-seeded 6-foot-6 Argentine del Potro, who outlasted the Swiss icon in a suspenseful showdown on Day 15 of the "fortnight," and is now up to No. 5 in the world.

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