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AsSerena Williamsfaced down Johanna Konta in San Jose, California, late last month — ina one-sided matchthat ended with the worst defeat of Williams’ career — she says she could not help but think about something far removed from the court: Robert Edward Maxfield,the man sent to prison for killing her older sister Yetunde Price15 years earlier.
Williams’ defeat, uncommonly lopsided for the tennis champion, led to curiosity from longtime observers and fans: What was going on?
Williams told TIME she learned about it that same day, some 10 minutes before she was set to start her match against Konta in San Jose.
Referring to Price’s three children, all under the age of 13 when she died, Williams said: “It was hard because all I think about is her kids, and what they meant to me. And how much I love them.”
Maxfield was unsuccessfully tried twice for murderin Price’s 2003 shooting deathbefore he pleaded no-contest to the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter, for which he was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
(A no-contest plea essentially has the same effect as a guilty plea, but the defendant does not admit the accusations against them.)
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Speaking with TIME, Williams described her difficulty, still, in how she felt about the case.
“No matter what, my sister is not coming back for good behavior,” she said. “It’s unfair that she’ll never have an opportunity to hug me. But also … the Bible talks about forgiveness.”
That, too, was something with which Williams wrestled.
“I’m not there yet,” she told TIME. “I would like to practice what I preach, and teach[daughter] Olympiathat as well. I want to forgive. I have to get there. I’ll be there.”
Price, a nurse and part owner of a hair salon, also worked as a personal assistant to her superstar sisters, Serena andVenus Williams.
But she led a largely independent life, telling PEOPLE shortly before she died: “They’re still my sisters. We don’t get into the fame thing too much when we’re all together as a family.”
The Williams sisters opened theYetunde Price Resource Centerin 2016.
source: people.com
