Stunning news had Serena reeling before San Jose loss
Serena Williams said she was shocked to find out right before taking the court at San Jose State last month that the man who killed her sister Yetunde Price had been paroled.
It helps explain how Williams suffered the worst loss of her star-studded career, failing to win more than one game in a straight-set, first-round loss to Johanna Konta in the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic.
The 36-year-old Williams, who had a baby girl, Olympia, last September, had initially chalked up her one-sided loss to postpartum emotions.
But, in an interview with Time, Williams said she discovered Robert Maxfield, who killed her sister in a drive-by shooting in Compton in 2003, had recently been released from prison. Price left behind three children, ages 11, 9 and 5 at the time.
Maxfield was sentenced in 2006 to 15 years in prison, and was serving time in Tracy at Deuel Vocational Institution. However, he was paroled on March 8, three years before his term was up, because of good behavior.
“No matter what, my sister is not coming back for good behavior,” Williams told Time. “It’s unfair that she’ll never have an opportunity to hug me.”
Understandably, Williams’ heart was somewhere else as she lost 6-1, 6-0 to Konta in just 52 minutes during the match on July 31.
“I couldn’t shake it out of my mind,” said Williams, who was scrolling on her phone in San Jose 10 minutes before her match when she saw that her sister’s killer was free. “It was hard because all I think about is her kids and what they meant to me. And how much I love them.” DJOKOVIC EYES TROPHY IN CINCINNATI >> Enraged by his poor play in the opening set, Novak Djokovic slammed his racket on the court and rallied for a 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Milos Raonic to reach the semifinals of the Western & Southern Open in suburban Cincinnati, the only ATP Masters event he has yet to win.
After his passing shot finished the 2-hour, 30-minute match, Djokovic led the crowd in cheers and pumped his fist, ending a long day with an impromptu celebration. He beat defending champion Grigor Dimitrov a few hours earlier, completing a match suspended overnight because of rain and returned a few hours later to play a rested opponent.
Djokovic has reached the finals in Cincinnati five times and lost every time. He’s trying to become the first to win all nine ATP Masters 1000 championships.
He’ll face Marin Cilic, who won twice Friday to reach the semifinals.
Roger Federer and Simona Halep made quick work of their rain-delayed matches and advanced to a quarterfinal match a few hours later.
Federer needed only 72 minutes to beat Leonardo Mayer 6-1, 7-6 (6), leaving him on course for yet another Cincinnati title. He’s won a record seven. Then, it was off for a little rest before winning an evening match against fellow Swiss player Stan Wawrinka 6-7 (2), 7-6 (6), 6-2.
Halep beat Ashleigh Barty 7-5, 6-4, then returned and knocked off Lesia Tsurenko 6-4, 6-1.
Motor sports
LARSON EARNS XFINITY WIN >> Kyle Larson capitalized on Kyle Busch’s early exit to win the Xfinity Series race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, his first victory ever at the track he calls his favorite.
Larson has won four of the six Xfinity Series races he has entered this season. The latest victory came hours after he earned the pole for the Cup Series event tonight.
The race went into overtime after Daniel Hemric spun with two laps remaining. Larson held off a challenge from Justin Allgaier on the restart. Allgaier ended up in third place, behind Christopher Bell.
Although Larson had never won here before Friday, this marked his eighth top-10 finish in nine races at Bristol. He has finished second on this track three times at a Cup event earlier this year and at Xfinity Series races in 2014 and 2015.
All three times, he lost to Busch.
Busch led for the first 70 laps Friday until he got a flat right front tire that caused him to hit the wall and damaged his car enough that he couldn’t return. Busch was leading by over 3½ seconds at the time he got the flat. LARSON TAKES CUP POLE >> Larson won his third pole of the season as he eyes his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the year.
Larson turned a lap at 127.792 mph in qualifying at Bristol. Chase Elliott was second at 127.665. Kyle Busch was third. Busch will be seeking his eighth Cup victory at Bristol in tonight’s race.
Larson’s chances of winning could depend on whether he can hold off Busch, who holds a narrow lead over Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. in the season standings.
Harvick qualified sixth. Truex is 17th out of 40 cars.
The threat of inclement weather has caused the starting time for today’s race to move up to 3:45 p.m., an hour earlier than the originally scheduled start.
Gymnastics
BILES DOMINATES U.S. CHAMPIONSHIPS >> Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles dominated the opening night of the U.S. Championships in Boston, posting the highest scores on all four events on her way to an all-around total of 60.100. It’s the first time since the all-around final in Rio de Janeiro two years ago that anyone’s topped 60 points. Reigning world champion Morgan Hurd is a distant second.
Horse racing
BREEDERS’ CUP CHOOSES SITES >> The Breeders’ Cup has chosen Santa Anita, Keeneland and Del Mar to host its World Championships from 2019-2021, respectively, continuing its recent venue rotation between California and Kentucky tracks.
Santa Anita will host the season-ending event for a record 10th time on Nov. 1-2, 2019. Kentuckybased Keeneland (Nov. 6-7, 2020) and Del Mar (Nov. 5-6, 2021) will present the races for the second time each after debuting as venues in 2015 and 2017, respectively.
Breeders’ Cup president and CEO Craig Fravel noted those tracks’ success with the event and added we “look forward to building upon past triumphs.”
Louisville’s Churchill Downs will host races on Nov. 2-3. The last Breeders’ Cup held outside California and Kentucky was at New Jersey’s Monmouth Park in 2007.
Colleges
MARYLAND BOARD OF REGENTS TAKES CONTROL >> The University of Maryland Board of Regents assumed authority over the investigation into the death of Jordan McNair, who collapsed during football practice and subsequently died.
The board also voted to assume control of the commission formed to investigate the culture of the Maryland football program.
The board was briefed by university President Wallace Loh about McNair’s death, as well as the investigation into allegations of physical and verbal abuse by the coaching staff. Coach DJ Durkin is on leave during the investigation, and strength and conditioning coach Rick Court resigned.
MEYER REPORT COMING NEXT WEEK >> Ohio State said factfinders investigating Coach Urban Meyer’s handling of domestic abuse allegations against a former assistant will deliver a report to university leaders sometime next week. The school announced the investigation will wrap up on Sunday as planned, and a report will be delivered to the six-person group appointed by trustees to coordinate the probe.
Soccer
DE BRUYNE OUT FOR ABOUT 3 MONTHS >> Manchester City playmaker Kevin De Bruyne was ruled out for about three months with a right knee injury, dealing the Premier League champions an early setback for the new season. The injury does not require surgery, but means he will miss at least four of the six games in the group stage of the Champions League and potentially the next 11 games in the 38-match Premier League season.