Eight-time tennis grand slam winner Andre Agassi has admitted using crystal meth and lying to men’s governing body to escape a ban in the sport in his new memoir titled “Open.” People magazine and Sports Illustrated will run pieces this week from the book ahead of its November 9th release date, but a few details have already been leaked, such as being introduced to the drug by his then-assistant when he was having doubts about his upcoming marriage to Brooke Shields.
Per Lincoln Tribune:
“Slim dumps a small pile of powder on the coffee table. He cuts it, snorts it. He cuts it again. I snort some. I ease back on the couch and consider the Rubicon I’ve just crossed,” Agassi, now 39, was quoted as saying. “There is a moment of regret, followed by vast sadness. Then comes a tidal wave of euphoria that sweeps away every negative thought in my head. I’ve never felt so alive, so hopeful — and I’ve never felt such energy.”
Agassi goes on to talk about a time in 1997 when he received a phone call from the doctor working for the ATP, informing him that he failed a drug test for the class 2 recreational drug which would have guaranteed him a 3-month ban. Thinking quickly, he came up with a lie saying he accidentally drank out of a glass spiked with the drug that belonged to his drug-addicted assistant.
Per Lincoln Tribune:
“My name, my career, everything is now on the line. Whatever I’ve achieved, whatever I’ve worked for, might soon mean nothing. Days later I sit in a hard-backed chair, a legal pad in my lap, and write a letter to the ATP. It’s filled with lies interwoven with bits of truth,” Agassi said. “I feel ashamed, of course. I promise myself that this lie is the end of it,” Agassi recalls saying.
Interesting enough, the sports controlling body took his word for it and never made an investigation into Agassi or his claims. You can bet they will most likely now be pressed into the reasons why they accepted his explanation without questions. In addition to drug use, “Open” also talks about his hair loss, troubled marriage to Shields, and eventually meeting his current wife Steffi Graf. Uncool, Andre. Very uncool. I’m really disappointed that he would choose to sell out like this. If he really wanted to share the meth story to help people or whatever reason he gives, he didn’t have to do it in effort to make a profit. It’s trashy.
Image Via: ABC
