Betfair Official Blog

The Betfair Awards: Djokovic gets most improved player but who are the others?

Click here to view market

Tennis commentator Barry Millns looks at who shone in the world of tennis in 2007 and who let themselves down

And the winner is....Yes it is that time of the tennis year and where better to start than Best Player. Two individuals stand out head and shoulders above the rest and it is no surprise that many are drawing comparisons between them.

For Roger Federer, currently trading at [1.63] to defend his Australian Open crown in January, winning eight more titles in 2007, including another three grand slams plus the Tennis Masters Cup ensured a fourth consecutive season's finish as world No.1. For opposite number Justine Henin [2.46], 10 more titles, including another couple of grand slams plus the Sony Ericsson Championships, ensured her supremacy on the WTA Tour.

Both still came up short in the one major that still eludes them, Federer again falling to Rafael Nadal [15.5] in the final of the French Open, and Henin shocked in the semi-finals of Wimbledon by Marion Bartoli [46]. But those major disappointments aside, their plusses far outweighed the minuses.

Henin won 63 of her 67 matches after returning to the tour following the break-up of her marriage, with back-to-back wins over Serena [14] and Venus Williams [13.5] an undoubted highlight at the US Open. Federer went 68-9 for the season in which he parted company with coach Tony Roche but significantly beat Nadal on clay for the first time and ultimately I give the nod to the Swiss for achieving that little bit more and doing it for longer.

Most Disappointing Player - Heading into the Davis Cup Final in Portland, Oregon it is a great shame that Marat Safin will not be taking part. The man who clinched the trophy for Russia last season has long been his country's talisman but a 23-20 record in 2007 underlines the disappointment it has been, his confidence and form so eroded that he has now dropped outside the top 50.

For a man who looked like he could beat anyone when he picked up his last individual title at the 2005 Australian Open, it is a depressing decline. As ever with Safin it is all in the mind and hopefully after an extended break he will return with a clear head for 2008 to make the most of what remains of his career and not fritter away his immense talent.

Most Improved Player - Two players deserve honourable mentions: the Hungarian teenager Agnes Szavay [38] who soared nearly 190 places to a career-high ranking of No.19, winning 56 matches including her first two WTA titles, and Spain's David Ferrer [44] who rose from No.14 to No.5 by winning 61 matches, including three more titles, reached his first slam semi-final at the US Open and swept aside all but Federer at the Tennis Masters Cup.

But Serbia's Novak Djokovic [14.5] gets my vote, even though exhaustion for his exploits finally caught up with him. Starting the year ranked No.16, he broke into the top 10 before turning 20, and established himself at No.3 on the back of 68 wins, five titles, a first grand slam final in New York and victories over all of the world's elite.

Most Entertaining Player - Two of the most enthralling matches were undoubtedly the Federer / Nadal final at Wimbledon and Henin's epic season-ending triumph over Maria Sharapova [7] in Madrid. All four and many more showed plenty of brilliance elsewhere, with the magical touches of players like Fabrice Santoro, Richard Gasquet [95] and Andy Murray [28] always worth the admission fee.

But for me there was something about watching the diminutive yet hugely determined underdog David Ferrer battle for everything time and again, rising far higher than even he had thought possible, which was ultimately immensely captivating and satisfying.

Most Beautiful Player - On dangerous ground here, I'll stick to shots not looks and for me the flair and flourish of Richard Gasquet's single-handed backhand is where the sport comes closest to art - a brush stroke more than a ground stroke!

Most Media Friendly - Roger Federer: time and again he is class off the court as well as on it.