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The lawyer for one of the victims of disgraced former tennis player Bob Hewitt has reportedly requested that a decision by the Correctional Services to release him on parole be reviewed.

According to a report by The Citizen, the decision to release Hewitt was taken after the parole board sat on August 23.

He is due for release on parole on September 23.

Hewitt, 79, was convicted for the rape of two young women and sexually assaulting another who he coached in the 1980s and 1990s. He was sentenced to six years in prison.

He was found guilty of rape in 2015.

However, Tania Koen, the attorney for one of the victims, told the publication that her client, Olivia Jasriel, was not informed of the hearing and decision.

She said according to the Correctional Services Act, victims should have been made aware of the hearings.

His release will “send the wrong message to society”, Koen told The Citizen.

She further said: “You can imagine the trauma of the victim, and now she feels she is being raped again by the law. Those are strong words but that’s how she feels.”

Correctional Services Department spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said there has been no decision taken regarding the former tennis player’s parole release and that once a decision is made, it will be communicated to parties involved in the matter, Times Live reported.

Jasriel also told the publication that she was opposed to Hewitt being handed parole, saying she wished that the justice system would not allow offenders like the former tennis player to be granted paroles.

In September 2018, Hewitt had applied for parole, after having served two years of his sentence.

He later changed his application and opted to have the remainder of his sentence converted to house arrest, News24 previously reported. His report was declined.

The Australian-born Hewitt won nine Grand Slam doubles and six mixed doubles titles.

He also reached the semi-finals of the men’s singles at the Australian Open three times and won the Davis Cup with South Africa in 1974 after moving to this country.