Serena Williams suffered a particularly painful defeat at the San José tournament this month. The American lost 6-1 and 6-0 to the British Johanna Konta, her biggest loss ever. However, Williams could not concentrate. Today she told why: ten minutes before the start of the party she learned that the killer of her half-sister Yetunde Price would be released.

The 23-time Grand Slam winner saw the news on Instagram when she was busy on her phone before the start of the match. Robert Maxfield, a former gang member of the Southside Crips, is released three years earlier for good behavior. Maxfield shot Price dead in New York in 2003.

"I could not get it out of my mind," said Williams in conversation with Time. "It was very heavy. I especially thought about her children and how much I love them. My sister will not return because of good behavior. "

Right after the game, Williams did not want to say what was going on, but it was clear that she was doing something other than tennis. "There is so much in my head right now, I do not have time to think about defeat," Williams said. "I was clearly not at my best."

The 36-year-old Williams made her comeback this year in the tennis circuit after the birth of her Alexis Olympia. She reached Roland Garros until the fourth round and lost at Wimbledon in the final of Angelique Kerber.