Aussie Open's Best Dressed—and Style Misfires

New-to-Twitter self-branded "sugar mama" Maria Sharapova said it: Yellow is the fashion story at this Australian Open. It's the main color on court anyway, in all of its hues, but the best dress at this lead-off Grand Slam event of the season doesn't have anything to do with it. Here, the Daily Spin's top looks in Melbourne in no particular order, with a trio of fashion misfires as well.

1. I'll get it out of the way to start: Serena Williams' purple Nike dress, with the accent-color band of orange at the waist, is the star of this tournament. An orange headband with tribal print makes for a timely accessory, a tribute to February's coming Black History Month and worn during an event that runs over Martin Luther King Jr., Day and U.S. president Barack Obama's second inauguration. The purple shoes she sported in some promo photos of the outfit best the orange ones she's worn on court, in the Spin's view.  

2. The men's feature that must be talked about, Roger Federer's pink shoelaces and accents on all of his attire. Yes, Federer once wore an entirely pink shirt, but this hotter pink is quite forward for Fed, who normally wears such regal black, blue, and purple solids. The pink is especially striking against the black shoes and socks, and looks almost as good as pink does against brown.  

3. Ryan Harrison's fresh polo front gave his always-classic appearance some additional oomph, as my mother would say.  

4. Julia Goerges swapped Nike for Fila, and in turn found an aqua-type color that pops against her bronze skin tone. This is a victory from a tennis line that has given us some intriguing looks over time.

5. Novak Djokovic's Uniqlo night-match attire is winsome, and he got a lot of mileage out of that navy-and-yellow set (with silver adidas kicks) in his 12-10 final-set clincher against Stanislas Wawrinka. It's coloration that only someone with a glowing tan can pull off, and he certainly did pull (read: rip) it off.

6. The daytime look for Djokovic is also victorious, with bright white-and-green lines that wink at vintage style while remaining modern. (To note, the Djoker has also fancied wearing nothing at all at this event.)  

7. Venus Williams' Cross-Court Floral dress from her own fashion house, EleVen, paints her in flattering, soft colors; an elegant, trim cut; and black lines to break up the pattern. Flashy but not whelming.  

8. Svetlana Kuznetsova's Qiaodan dress—yea, a dress—appears here not just because "Sveta" is rocking a dress for once, but because it's quite lovely on her, a strong blue to complement her powerful game.  

9. Stella McCartney sorted out her Caro blunders to date—either making Caroline Wozniacki look frumpy or skimpy, also in yellow—and put the resurgent retriever in a (gasp) yellow-and-white frock that fits like a Danish dream.  

As aforementioned, here are those three fashion misfires on this Grand Slam stage:

1. The Spin is as surprised as you are, but Maria Sharapova's Nike dress is a pale-yellow, blah-inducing eyesore. Who'd have thought from such a reliable fashionista? The gray counter-color doesn't sharpen the look, rather it further dulls it, and the darker yellow-orange panel plastered on the bust of the dress just plainly confuses. In a word, why?

2. Andy Roddick noticed that Tomas Berdych was in a new line, and indeed, the Czech is in sartorial purgatory, having left Nike and not yet in his new H&M-sponsored threads. Thus, he ends up in an off-brand combo of white shirt and black shorts that looks like it's wearing him more than he's wearing it. In light of the quarterfinal showdown with Djokovic, H&M really missed a golden opportunity here. Instead, Berdych is left in Roddick/John Isner oversized-polo territory. He's looked better. He deserves better.  

3. In short, Mona Barthel's stay in this black number with a doily hanging on it was mercifully short for how ghastly the dress was.  

Whose look do you like best, and who needs to step up their fashion game? Sound off below.  

—Jonathan Scott (@jonscott9)