Agassi book reveals 1997 meth-use drama

LONDON/NEW YORK - Retired Andre Agassi’s post-tennis reputation as a generous philanthropic millionaire may take a hit after excerpts from his upcoming book revealed that he once took crystal meth more than a decade ago and lied to the ATP about it.

In selections from his soon-to-be-released autobiography, Open, the 39-year-old said that he took the illegal substance during a low point in his career in 1997 when he was married to actress Brooke Shields.

The man who won all four of the Grand Slams then said that he escaped possible criminal and sporting sanctions by lying in a letter to the ATP when they got onto the case.

Agassi said in the excerpts published on the London’s Times website that he “unwittingly” took the drug, claiming in his letter to the ATP that he had unwittingly drank from a glass spiked with the drug by a former assistant.

“Then I come to the central lie of the letter,” the eight-time Grand Slam champion 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.

“I feel ashamed, of course. I promise myself that this lie is the end of it. The ATP reviewed the case and threw it out.”

Since retiring in 2006 - and even before - Agassi has gained the reputation as a philanthropic saint in the game and in his home city of Las Vegas for starting a grades-one-to-12 school for disadvantaged children.

He puts on a charity gala each September in Vegas which raises millions for good works and is studded with Hollywood and sporting stars.

The autobiography will be published Nov 9.

Book excerpts also appeared on the website of People magazine: “I can’t speak to addiction, but a lot of people would say that if you’re using anything as an escape, you have a problem,” Agassi writes.

In the Times, he adds that he received a heart-stopping call from an ATP medical official concerning a doping test.

“He reminds me that tennis has three classes of drug violation,” he writes.

“Performance-enhancing drugs … would constitute a Class 1, he says, which would carry a suspension of two years. However, he adds, crystal meth would seem to be a clear case of Class 2. Recreational drugs.” That would mean a three-month suspension.

“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.”

After writing his letter to the ATP - nothing more was heard of the case - Agassi, who capped a comeback in 1998 by winning the French Open said that he suddenly wanted to purge himself.

“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.”

Agassi, married to fellow former great Steffi Graf and father of two children, was on court in an exhibition in Macau as recently as last Sunday,when hen he lost to longtime rival Pete Sampras.