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‘I Was Questioning…’ – Serena Williams Once Poured Her Heart Out on How Sister Yetunde Price’s Death Ignited a New Passion for Tennis

Published 07/22/2022, 8:30 AM EDT

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via Reuters

Serena Williams is a player with a strong mindset. The 23 times Grand Slam champion has had a long journey, filled with ups and downs, overcoming several rough patches and hardships in her career to reach where she is today. However, the one that affected her the most was losing her sister.

Williams, while at the peak of her career, suffered the loss of her half-sister Yetunde Price. And after the loss of her sister, Williams started questioning her decisions.

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Serena Williams’ changed perspective

Williams, while in an interview after six years of Price’s demise, spoke about how her mind started weighing her decisions. She said, “All my life I’d woken up to tennis, tennis, tennis. Even if I don’t go to practice, I’m thinking about it all day. And to have it on your mind for 24 years is a long time. So that’s what I was questioning. Is this something I really love?”

via Reuters

She added, “Is it something my dad wanted me to do? Is it something I’m doing cos Venus is doing it?” Thereafter, Williams concluded that her absence had rekindled her passion for tennis and made her decide to live by a simple rule, which is if she ever fell out of love with the sport, she would quit.

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Price owned a hair salon and was a personal assistant and nurse to Venus and Serena Williams. Further, she lived with her children and was struggling with some financial problems when shot to death in 2003 at Compton, California.

Recent bad news for Williams

The former World no.1 experienced a sudden shock when she heard worrying news about her old friend Esther Lee. Esther was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer in 2021. Lee has traveled alongside Serena and Venus for several years as their physical therapist.

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Therefore, she is very close to the sisters and Williams’ heart shattered when they heard about the same. Consequently, she took an initiative to help her good friend and invited her fans and followers to join her on Halloween at the Hirshberg Foundation’s L.A. Cancer Challenge to raise awareness for Lee. Also, she recently wrote a heartfelt letter to her.

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Written by:

Mahima Verma

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Mahima Verma is a Tennis writer for EssentiallySports. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Hotel Management from IHM Mumbai. A sports enthusiast, particularly Tennis since her childhood, Mahima believes that she is fortunate enough to witness the legends like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Serena Williams play.
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Edited by:

Deepakshi Chaudhary