'I thought Hewitt loved me'

Former doubles tennis champion Bob Hewitt allegedly told Suellen Sheehan that her mother had asked him to teach her about "the birds and the bees" before he allegedly raped her.

Hewitt, 75, has pleaded not guilty to two charges of rape and one of indecent assault.

Sheehan, 45, yesterday told the Johannesburg High Court that Hewitt raped her in 1982, when she was 12 years old. She said he raped her in his car after fetching her from school for tennis practice.

Hewitt's lawyer, Terry Price, asked Sheehan if she had cried or tried to stop Hewitt.

She replied: "I was not in a position to do anything to stop him. I switched myself off. I accepted it."

Sheehan also said that she believed Hewitt loved her and was "very hurt" when she met him in 1994 and he walked away from her after she greeted him.