Andre Agassi Admits Using Crystal Meth in Memoir
NEW YORK (CBS/AP) Andre Agassi feels "ashamed."
The tennis superstar's upcoming autobiography contains an admission that he used crystal meth in 1997 and lied to tennis authorities when he failed a drug test — a result that was thrown out after he said he "unwittingly" took the substance.
According to an excerpt of the autobiography published Wednesday in The Times of London, the eight-time Grand Slam champion writes that he sent a letter to the ATP tour to explain the positive test, saying he accidentally drank from a soda spiked with meth by his assistant "Slim."
"Then I come to the central lie of the letter," Agassi writes. "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."
Agassi said the ATP reviewed the case, accepted his explanation and threw it out.
"I feel ashamed, of course. I promise myself that this lie is the end of it."
1997, the year Agassi claims he used crystal meth, was one of his worst. His tennis ranking dropped to 141 despite having won a gold medal in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics the year before and Wimbledon in 1992.
ATP spokesman Nicola Arzani said Wednesday he would not comment "at the moment," and the International Tennis Federation's Emily Bevan referred all questions to the ATP.