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ATP-Level Qualifier
Posts: 818
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Andre admitted having had crystal meth or whatever while he was a player...
No wonder he used to dress like a clown, lost his hair and chose to marry a nose...
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Challenger Qualifier
Posts: 235
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Agassi says he used crystal meth in '97Comment Email Print Share ESPN.com news services
Andre Agassi used crystal meth while he was playing professional tennis, according to a new autobiography to be released next month.
Agassi
The information was confirmed by the director of media relations at Knopf, a division of Random House which is publishing the book, according to a report in the New York Daily News. It was first publicized widely by Sports Illustrated writer Richard Deitsch in a Twitter post.
The Daily News said that the year was 1997.
"FYI: There's an off-the-charts book excerpt from Andre Agassi in the forthcoming SI: He admits to taking crystal meth during his career," Deitsch wrote Tuesday morning. The post was later deleted. The excerpt of the book is due out later this week in Sports Illustrated and People magazines.
"Those excerpts contain revelations about Andre's use of crystal meth when he was a tennis player," said Paul Bogaards of Knopf, according to the Daily News.
Agassi had won the Olympic gold medal in the 1996 Atlanta Games, but didn't win a major in 1997. His next major came at the 1999 French Open. He won the U.S. Open later that year and went on to win three more Australian Open titles before retiring in 2006. He won more than $30 million in his career, and eight major singles titles.
He is currently married to former Grand Slam champion Steffi Graf. They have two children.
The book, titled "Open: An Autobiography," is due out on Nov. 9.
Maybe he should change the word from "used" to "Still" if he thinks that TMF and Rafa reign at the top is coming to an end! What is the purpose of his "outing", was he forced and who knows what else he is hiding!
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Futures Qualifier
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He's selling books. Along the way, I hope they strip him of any titles he may have won during his period of use. Why would you get away with it, and then cop to it? This man is an idiot. Both recreational and performance enhancing drugs are forbidden.
And Crystal Meth is an energy drug. It keeps you up...can keep you up for days. I could see how it could benefit a guy who relied on his legs. BG tells a story in the Andre bio on TTC...it's about how Agassi once called him up in the middle of the night and had him come down to the court to hit balls to him because he wanted to impress Brooke Shields. Gilbert was like 'sure it was strange, but that's Andre: rock and roll.'
Right. That's a meth story. More like 'crystal and roll.' Take his titles please. And give the one AO final where he beat Sampras back to Pete, who was nothing if not clean.
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Futures Main Draw
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First, Agassi is my favorite player so I am very sad to hear about this. Even though I admire his encourage for the confession right now, there should be consequences about this. I believe the punishment for positive drug test is 2-year ban, correct? So everything in the 2 year period following that positive test should be removed, his titles should be taken away and prize money should be handed back (and if the 2 year ban include the FO title in 99, that should be removed as well). ATP needs to investigate who decided its okay to throw out the positive test and that person should be penalized as well.
Having that that, I feel really bad for him. It must be bothering him like crazy for he to admit this when he clearly got away with it. I disagree its about selling books. So he earns more money but you think players like Agassi are in any shortage of money? He is putting his reputation, his legacy at risk by coming out with the confession. 97 was a horrible year for him and I can understand why he turned to drugs. Falling from the top so fast is hard for anybody to take, esp. someone who was as successful as he is. Meth probably only worsened his situation so its not really performance enhance at all and he probably just took it to forgot about all the unhappiness on the tennis court rather than trying to win anything. Poor Andre...
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Challenger Qualifier
Posts: 235
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melanie85 - 10/27/2009 9:31 PM
First, Agassi is my favorite player so I am very sad to hear about this. Even though I admire his encourage for the confession right now, there should be consequences about this. I believe the punishment for positive drug test is 2-year ban, correct? So everything in the 2 year period following that positive test should be removed, his titles should be taken away and prize money should be handed back (and if the 2 year ban include the FO title in 99, that should be removed as well). ATP needs to investigate who decided its okay to throw out the positive test and that person should be penalized as well.
Having that that, I feel really bad for him. It must be bothering him like crazy for he to admit this when he clearly got away with it. I disagree its about selling books. So he earns more money but you think players like Agassi are in any shortage of money? He is putting his reputation, his legacy at risk by coming out with the confession. 97 was a horrible year for him and I can understand why he turned to drugs. Falling from the top so fast is hard for anybody to take, esp. someone who was as successful as he is. Meth probably only worsened his situation so its not really performance enhance at all and he probably just took it to forgot about all the unhappiness on the tennis court rather than trying to win anything. Poor Andre...
I have been a big Andre supporter for years and still will be. Its not fair that he got away with what he did and was able to continue his career. I wonder how the accused dopers such as Coria, Korda, Hingis and all the others had their careers ruined or brought to a halt.
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Futures Qualifier
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Derek Zoolander - 10/27/2009 7:19 PM
Andre admitted having had crystal meth or whatever while he was a player...
No wonder he used to dress like a clown, lost his hair and chose to marry a nose...
Other than that, he's a great guy ...
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Futures Qualifier
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Cool avatar teco! Looks like something Aggie saw back in the day.
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Challenger Main Draw
Posts: 354
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Now the age-old debate will be about Federer's "Weaker competition" vs Sampras' "Tweaker competition"
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CHEERS,
TENNIS MILLER
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Futures Qualifier
Posts: 19
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Or Sampras's meth-head competition versus Federer's coke-kissed competition. 
cheers Milly!
Edited by stenelli 10/28/2009 11:35 AM
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Challenger Main Draw
Posts: 354
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You're right. I forgot about the classic Federer-Gasquet rivalry.
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CHEERS,
TENNIS MILLER
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Futures Qualifier
Posts: 26
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why would you come out saying that... lol
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Masters Series Level
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Ignoring the morals and all that, 'd just like to point out that Agassi used at the time he was in the 2 year slump in his career anyway. So to the poster who said they should "strip away the titles he won during that period", they wouldn't be stripping away much.
TENNIS MILLER - 10/28/2009 3:57 PM
You're right. I forgot about the classic Federer-Gasquet rivalry.
Thank you. That's exactly what I thought as soon as I read that above comment. Both funny posts from you btw.
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Grand Slam Champion
Posts: 3666
Location: A yard inside the baseline...
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This is an odd one. Firstly it was a recreational drug, so a three month ban would have been the maximum. But Agassi's reaction, when he was informed he'd failed a drug test?
He felt that everything he'd worked for in his career was under threat. Certainly, sponsors would have dropped him. The stigma would have been huge. Remember, in 1998, Agassi was essentially being written off. He gained props for playing Challengers but GS titles were out of the question. His 1999 resurgence was totally under the radar.
Had he taken a 3 month ban for doping offences, it may have hastened his retirement. It surely would have meant him returning to the game with a huge black cloud hanging over him. Zen-Agassi, Wise Owl Agassi, that incarnation occurred after his comeback. In 1997 he was Slacker-Agassi, Pepsi Cola Agassi.
Would he have won the French, and 4 more slams, if he'd taken the ban? It's not a question we can ignore.
Plus, there must be repurcussions to this. I mean, he lied to wriggle out of it, yet he admits he was a serial offender with this drug. He's beyond the jurisdiction of the ATP Tour now, but they CAN make a retrospective gesture, by stripping titles from him. And he may find the law on his case too.
On the other hand, I think it shows that these guys are human, they face huge pressure and they occasionally flip, just like you and I would. But with great reward comes severe responsibility. I think there maybe legs in this one yet...
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In the end, nothing will come of this except increased book sales.
There's no way Agassi would have put this in print without a team of high-paid lawyers going over it first, making sure there would be no negative repercussions.
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Grand Slam Champion
Posts: 3666
Location: A yard inside the baseline...
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tented - 10/29/2009 11:52 AM
In the end, nothing will come of this except increased book sales.
There's no way Agassi would have put this in print without a team of high-paid lawyers going over it first, making sure there would be no negative repercussions.
That's true, buddy, in which case I wonder why he made it public at all. I understand the increase in sales, but his reputation has taken a knock, I think. Whatever way we look at it, he cheated the system, and benefitted. It's a pity, cos I Liked Agassi a lot. Used to love watching Pete thump him! 
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Challenger Qualifier
Posts: 215
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I doubt his reputation will be tarnished at all. Look at the good he's done, the ways he's changed the world. This was a time when virtually everyone felt he wasn't just on the way out, but out. He wasn't even in the top 100 at the time.
He's incredibly lucky he was able to give up this "habit" without much fan fare apparently. Numerous others haven't been as lucky.
If it sells more books, good for him. If it inspires one person to give up their habit, even better. He was young and stupid. We all were. People who live in glass houses....
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ATP-Level Main Draw
Posts: 1538
Location: NYC
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pollypurebred - 10/29/2009 6:30 PM
I doubt his reputation will be tarnished at all. Look at the good he's done, the ways he's changed the world. This was a time when virtually everyone felt he wasn't just on the way out, but out. He wasn't even in the top 100 at the time.
He's incredibly lucky he was able to give up this "habit" without much fan fare apparently. Numerous others haven't been as lucky.
If it sells more books, good for him. If it inspires one person to give up their habit, even better. He was young and stupid. We all were. People who live in glass houses....
I agree with you, Polly. He had much more to lose by coming clean on that point, and I think he did it to show the error of his youthful ways at the time, and perhaps to get something off his conscience. If he is now being seen as the sainted Andre, and a great ambassador for tennis, maybe his past dishonesty and misbehavior was something he needed to discuss, in order to feel good about the praises heaped on him now. Confession is good for the soul, and all. I am inclined to think his motives were pure, especially since his life now is dedicated to helping kids. He makes a better example by saying he actually did bad things, which he regretted, overcame, and later was able to admit and apologize for. I admire him for fessing-up.
That he would do it to sell books is a cynical notion, and a complete misunderstanding of the publishing industry in its current state. Books don't sell that well anymore, and in any case, they don't make that much money for their authors in general, unless you are Dan Brown or JK Rowling. He probably got a big advance to do it, which is probably as much as he'll ever make on it. With what he and Steffi must be worth, I can't believe he would admit something like this just to sell a few books, at so much risk to his now-sterling reputation.
This confession may take something away from people's admiration of some of his tennis accomplishments, because he now admits he cheated and lied to get himself out of a tight spot. But it makes him a better person. That's more important.
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Futures Qualifier
Posts: 34
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Smoking crystal Meth. And lying about it.
Where are now all those who tore their clothes apart for guys like Argentine Puerta, who got 8 (yes,  years suspension for allegedly using Salbutamol, a B2 stimulant (basically, a drug used for asthma treatment). Salbutamol is like an aspirin compared to crystal meth....plus lying about it.
For some years I've been reading about the "cheaty Argentines", or "Nadal has to have some juice in him", and so forth.
Agassi's revelation (although suspected) puts the whole ATP in a ridiculous poisition. The fact that they accepted his excuses (of course, they didn't accept those of Puerta, or Chela, or Coria, or Canas, because none of them generates the money that "the great Andre" did) covers all the organization under a layer of putrid lies and corruption.
I don't want to heat about any other tennis athlete "positive" test. Credibility (if there was any), has gone through the drain.
It's all about money. if you are a monkey under the 100th place in ranking, you can't have an Aspirin. If you are the likes of the "great" Andre, you can go and play after a heavy dose of LSD and even share some with ATP officials in a nice dope party
Professional tennis's credibility, RIP.
Cutdcrap
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ATP-Level Qualifier
Posts: 713
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totally agree with you that shows atp has zero credibility....for agassi GOOD ADVERTISEMENT FOR HIS BOOK... the kind of honesty that comes 12 years later isn't a honesty.....and now he is trying to sell his book...
Edited by oshoselite 10/29/2009 9:49 PM
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Challenger Qualifier
Posts: 235
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oshoselite - 10/29/2009 10:09 PM
totally agree with you that shows atp has zero credibility....for agassi GOOD ADVERTISEMENT FOR HIS BOOK... the kind of honesty that comes 12 years later isn't a honesty.....and now he is trying to sell his book...
Agreed! Pure hypocrisy and he is just trying to sell some books at the expense of his professional reputation and his family name regardless that his dad is a JERK!
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Posts: 9152
Location: central Pennsylvania
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For those of us who looked on Agassi as a brat who made too much money too fast... we were happy to see him mellow and settle down. Steffi Graf was a good influence on him. These recent revelations, rather than being hypocritical, are simply confirmation of what we already thought of him at the time in his life.
Young people who were raised under tight controls and then make a lot of money often make some very wrong choices as they individuate and break free from those who controlled them... remember Capriati. After their forays into rebellion and stupidity, they often come around and make significant contributions to the community... wiser and better from the school of hard knocks.
To me the real concern is the ATP. I'd like to understand better what was/wasn't done and what their rationale was for whatever they did/didn't do.
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ATP-Level Qualifier
Posts: 818
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Please stop that nonsense about Agassi doint this to sell more books. This guy used to do like USD 30 MM a year, a book isnothing for his wallet no matter how much he sells. Not to mention Graf's own money.
I dont like this but certainly it is not for the money.
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So join now, 'cause at the Derek Zoolander Center For Kids Who Can't Read Good And Wanna Learn To Do Other Stuff Good Too, we teach you that there's more to life than just being really, really, really good looking. Right kids?
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Grand Slam Champion
Posts: 3666
Location: A yard inside the baseline...
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I think there's more of an issue here than just the ATP Tour, which was criminally negligent in selecting who it would allow to break its rules. The point was well-made by cutdcrap that if Andre had been an Argentinian player, the 3 month ban - and discredit to his reputation - would have been a formality.
The ATP Tour is now having to look at its procedures and I'm sure they're a lot tighter now, maybe they have different personnel, methods, etc, but still, they've brought the game into disrepute as much as Andre did.
I tend to agree that Andre must have been under unknowable pressures and he felt drugs were a lightener, and nobody can say they'd act differently. BUt this isn't simply an issue of "people in glass houses". Nobody here has denied that we're all culpabable somewhere of doing something wrong, but that doesn't mean there aren't issues to be addressed here. Tennis is the sport we love and it's lost some credibility now and this is mainly because of Agassi.
I ask the question again: would he have won the final 5 slams in his career had he taken the ban? It's an open-ended question, one not easily answered. Remember, Agassi won a career slam, it's the record upon which his claim to greatness hangs. I have to wonder about that now, and if you think that's unfair, well, it wasn't me who took the drugs. I'm just the sucker fan who believed the guy
How would Pete have felt back in 1999 had he known this? To imagine, picture how Nadal or Federer would feel if they found out the other was hiding something now.
I know confession is good for the soul, but penance is part of this. Confession contains within its own act some penance, and I realise that Agassi has done a huge amount of good for people, but he's been in a position to do so because he's incredibly privileged. He would have found a lot of these privileges removed had his sponsors known about this.
I'm confused as to why he's made this public. I don't fully buy into the notion that it's just to sell books. If it's to clear his conscience, then I think it should be filed under the other acts of wilful egotism in his life, such as wearing denim shorts to a tennis match, because there had to be better ways to do it than this.
In work, everyone is talking about it. They all see "drugs" and sneer at tennis. It's difficult to defend, but at the same time it's somebody's life. We have to keep that in mind. I wish he had, too, when he decided to go public. He hasn't served tennis well by doing this, nor has he helped the ATP Tour, and nor has he done his reputation any good either.
It's all a pity, but I look at Agassi post-1998 differently now, though only a little...
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Posts: 4443
Location: On a hot tennis court down South
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I am also in the camp that believes he isn't trying to sell more books.
I don't think it's an accident that his book is coming out at this stage in his life. I think he's had time to reflect, and probably used his biography as a theraputic purging opportunity. Sometimes that happens when you start to write about yourself whether you intend it to or not. Probably a subject of having items weighing on the soul.
For me, I'm not that surprised it happened, and I'm not surprised as to when it happened in his career. Remember 1997 was a year that he fell pretty far from the top 100, and he only won 1 title toward the end of the year, and it wasn't Indian Wells or Rome or anything like that. The ATP could go back and take his entire year away from him in 1997 and it wouldn't change his stats, and would barely affect his ranking that year.
The following year in 1998 he was going to quit tennis. Brad Gilbert talked him into going to Paris after a dismal clay season - he bought the tickets and dragged Andre there. I think the only reason Agassi won in Paris in 1999 is because he thought it was going to be his very last tournament, and he played his way into that tournament. After winning the tournament, he found his love of the game again - I personally think it happened WHILE he was in Paris and not before. This is my interpretation from Gilbert's book "I've Got Your Back."
End of 96' to Paris 99' was a time where Agassi was interested in everything outside of tennis - his marriage, his money, his fame. It was a tough time in his life, and I don't really think too harshly of him.
The ATP has improved it's anti-doping measures since then by outsourcing the process, although it clearly made a poor decision at the time. The fact that Agassi wasn't even a relevant player at the time might have affected the decision - they were dealing with a player ranked #500, not #2 Agassi, might have been aware that his life was far off kilter anyway, and probably didn't think he would resurface as a player - none of us did. We thought he was done - remember?
It's easy to look back and judge I think.
I can't say if he should or shouldn't have revealed the drug use or the ATP response, but I think as an abassador to the game, as well as the owner of a school in a bad neighborhood, it gives the world the view of him that it should have. He can represent all that he does now with a good concious.
Just my thoughts.
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Challenger Main Draw
Posts: 301
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No one has mentioned it, so thought I would as main story on tennis.com homepage -
Agassi and Crystal meth use -
http://www.tennis.com/features/general/features.aspx?id=190340
Personally, I don't understand the policy behind placing 'recreational drugs' in same class as 'performance drugs' ?
Seems to me the drugs policy's are a game, catch some using recreational drugs that dont' matter to make it seem like the authorities are 'hard on drugs' when infact they have weak policies until recently on catching the real crooks, the use of performance drugs.
I would not infact make recreational drug use an offense or made public, as long as the player accepted a treatment program. There is no advantage from these drugs, and infact a disadvantage obivously. If the point is to avoid bad role models, then why alcohol isn't in a 'recreational drug'.
On the flip side, the policy on all sport to performance drug is totally a game and weak, it needs to be criminalized as a felony crime, as that's what it is. When you beat an opponent by cheating, your committing fraud with huge financial gain, just as if you forged a check,often for hundrends of thousands if not many millions of dollars.
I also believe Federer's idea of keeping sample 8 years is vital, because its very unlikely you catch anyone at the time, as drugs are always ahead of the testing. That way when testing finally catches up to the new designer drug, they will be caught retro-actively , and ought to be charged as a felony.
Many are focussing on how Agassi talked his way out of it, again no surprise, tours don't want to damage their image. Ultimately an outside authority for ALL sports needs to exist, who doesn't have a financial interest in avoiding 'bad publicity'.
Edited by entropy 10/30/2009 10:38 AM
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