Big sister Yetunde Price was proud of her two youngest siblings, Venus and Serena, watching them train as kids, slamming worn tennis balls against concrete walls in their crime-ridden Compton neighborhood of Los Angeles.
And when they shot to fame with their speedball serves on the court, Price, the oldest of the five sisters, was happy just to be on the sidelines as a personal assistant to her famous Grand Slam sibs.
When she wasn’t courtside, Price, a divorced mother of three, was busy running the Headed Your Way beauty salon in Lakewood, along with a childhood friend.
News of her murder came as a shock to her best friend and business partner.
“There is nothing to be said, she is gone,” said Price’s friend, who declined to give her name.
“She was my best friend. We did everything together,” she said, choking back tears.
“We grew up together in Compton, got our first credit card together. We shared our first apartment together. We started the salon. I just can’t say anything more,” she said sobbing.
“I don’t know why she was in the neighborhood.”
Price was also licensed as a vocational nurse and lived in Corona, Calif.
She took her mother’s maiden name when her parents, Robert and Oracene, split.
But that didn’t stop the sisters, including middle sisters Lyndrea and Isha, from enjoying a family get-together.
“We don’t get into the fame thing too much when we’re together as a family,” she told People magazine. “Except when it comes to meeting other celebs, like Michael Jackson. That was cool.”