British tennis player faces 'rape victim' in US court

A BRITISH tennis protégé accused of rape will come face to face with his alleged victim in a US court today.

Christopher Doerr, 20, is to attend a preliminary hearing in Mississippi to decide whether he should stand trial. He will not give evidence but his 20- year-old victim will describe to the court the alleged attack.

Prosecutors will also outline the evidence compiled in the case since his arrest in November. A judge at the Oktibbeha County Justice Court in Starkville, Mississippi, will then decide whether the case should go to trial.

Doerr, of Bromley, who has reached number 11 in the English rankings, faces life in prison if convicted.

He is accused of raping the girl after a party at his college accommodation at Mississippi State University on 15 November.

He is also accused of supplying alcohol to a minor. Drinking is illegal for those under 21 in the southern state.

Bail was set after his arrest at £33,000 and Doerr has continued with his law course which he is studying at the university on a scholarship. He has been suspended from playing with the college's tennis team since his arrest.

Doerr's taxi driver father, Richard, 54, flew to Mississippi after his arrest. He claimed his son had consensual sex with the girl.