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Excerpts from Andre Agassi's autobiography released; Details are explosive (pictures and video)
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Andre Agassi on the cover of his upcoming autobiography
Minutes before midnight struck the east coast on Wednesday, details from Andre Agassi's pending autobiography, "Open" were released in which the former world #1 admits not only to using crystal methamphetamine during the 1997 season, but also to lying to ATP officials about it in order to escape punishment.
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- Watch Video of ESPN's First Take discussing Andre Agassi at bottom of screen
At the time in question, Agassi blamed his crystal meth usage on accidental ingestion, claiming that his assistant - known as "Slim", spiked a soda which Andre drank without knowledge of what was in it. He then sent a letter in to ATP officials explaining himself in hopes of avoiding a suspension and informed them that he had since fired his assistant. Only his mention of "Slim" being fired was true however. Excerpts are as follows:
"Slim is stressed too ... He says, You want to get high with me? On what? Gack. What the hell's gack? Crystal meth. Why do they call it gack? Because that's the sound you make when you're high ... Make you feel like Superman, dude.
"As if they're coming out of someone else's mouth, I hear these words: You know what? F*** it. Yeah. Let's get high.
"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.
"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.
"I'm seized by a desperate desire to clean. I go tearing around my house, cleaning it from top to bottom. I dust the furniture. I scour the tub. I make the beds."
Later on, Agassi writes, he received a call from ATP doctors telling him he'd tested positive for meth:
"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.
"I say Slim, whom I've since fired, is a known drug user, and that he often spikes his sodas with meth - which is true. Then I come to the central lie of the letter. I say that recently I drank accidentally from one of Slim's spiked sodas, unwittingly ingesting his drugs. I ask for understanding and leniency and hastily sign it: sincerely.
"I feel ashamed, of course. I promise myself that this lie is the end of it."
The ATP accepted his apology and Agassi received no punishment, nor is it likely that he will be now given that he has been retired from the ATP tour since 2006 and the World Anti-Doping Agency has an 8 year statute of limitations with regard to such offenses.
The 1997 season marked a low point in Agassi's career in which he suffered a wrist injury and fell out of shape as his ranking dropped all the way into the 140's. He of course rebounded from this dark period however, going on to win the French Open title in 1999 to complete the career Grand Slam and finish with a total of 8 major championships during the course of his career.
Whether more details of Agassi's drug use will be revealed ahead of the book's release date is speculative, but it is a sad and common tale that when an athlete of his caliber is suddenly faced with their own mortality he (or she) can seek solace in dark places, especially when they have no other skills to fall back on or other sense of purpose in their lives. From the time Andre was a small child he was turning heads everywhere with his extraordinary talent, and the story of him defeating NFL great Jim Brown as a 9 year old boy to win a $500 bet for his father has become legend over the years. While training as a teenager at the Bollettieri Academy he was often asked the question of what he planned to be when he grew up, and without hesitation his answer was "a professional tennis player", as though it were a given that he would defy the tennis odds and have the tools to succeed at the touring level. Of course he did have the tools though, and for a time he thrilled the masses before falling into this downward spiral he lays out in his autobiography. Thankfully he was able to regain his focus and turn around not only his career as a player, but his life as well as he has become a champion of several charitable causes since retiring from competition.
"Open" hits newstands on Monday, November 9th.
Yahoo! Sports Blog contributed to this report
ESPN First Take discussing Andre Agassi's admission of drug use
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