Somdev Devvarman misses out on ACC player honour

Reigning NCAA tennis champion Somdev Devvarman of India has missed out on the 2008 Atlantic Coast Conference Male Athlete of the Year honour, finishing eight votes behind eventual winner basketball player Tyler Hansbrough.

The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic league in the United States. Founded in 1953, the ACC's 12 member universities compete in twenty sports in the NCAA Division I.

Of the 67 members of the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association who determined the winner, 20 voted for Devvarman. Baseball player Buster Posey was third with 12 votes.

As the league’s top male performer, Hansbrough was announced the winner of the Anthony J. McKevlin Award on Tuesday.

Somdev Devvarman, 23, passed out of the University of Virginia in May and has started his pro career on a winning note with victories at the $10,000 Buffalo Bills tournament in Rochester, the $10,000 Futures event in Pittsburgh and New York's Kennedy Funding Invitational.

Devvarman, currently ranked 566 on the ATP list, beat Top-100 players Sam Querrey and Dudi Sela in New York.

This week, he beat number 92 Bobby Reynolds in the $50,000 ATP Challenger event in Lexington, USA.

In a poll conducted by the Indian Tennis Blog in December, 48 per cent picked Devvarman as the "Indian player to watch out for in 2008".