Andre Agassi "Opens" Up, All is Forgiven
In a shocking revelation last year, Andre Agassi made a startling confession in his autobiography, Open: in the year 1997, under pressure due to potential career failure and his doubts over his impending marriage to the actress Brooke Shields, the American former professional tennis player was driven to illegal drugs, his intoxicant of choice being crystal methamphetamine, also known as crystal meth or tik.
Crystal methamphetamine is a highly addictive, dangerous drug which increases alertness, concentration and energy; in high doses, it can induce euphoria, enhanced self-esteem and libido. Its physical consequences include anorexia, restlessness, dry mouth, bowel disorders, arrhythmias, convulsions, heart attacks, strokes and ultimately death.
Andre Agassi writes in his book, Open, that this time of his life was perhaps the loneliest yet. So lonely, in fact, that when his then assistant (only known as Slim in the book) offered to get him high on ‘gack’, another name for meth, Agassi readily agreed. He has since then stated: “I never went out and got it. My assistant prepared it and I did it. It was like eating what was in front of you when you are hungry. I needed an escape. He had one.”
Worse than Agassi’s use of the drug, perhaps, is what followed as a consequence. Walking through the LaGuardia airport in New York, Agassi received a call from a doctor working with the ATP, giving him the most shocking news of his life: he had tested positive for crystal meth in recent drug tests. This drug qualifies as Class 2 in the three categories of drug violation in tennis: recreational drugs.
Had Agassi been found guilty of this gross violation of the law, he could have been sentenced to a maximum five-year jail sentence in the US, and suspended from tennis for three months at the least. It would have meant the end of his career, with everything he had worked for so far becoming redundant.
Seeing no other way out of his predicament, Agassi chose to lie; he wrote a letter to the ATP, written, as he admits, “with lies interwoven with bits of truth”. Agassi wrote that his assistant, Slim, was a know drug user, and that he often spiked his own drinks with meth; this much was true. Then, he told the lie which probably saved his career; that he unwittingly drank from one of Slim’s spiked sodas, hence unknowingly taking the drug. He pleaded for leniency and understanding, and the ATP reviewed the case, believed his explanation and threw the accusation out the window.
However, with this confession comes a host of accusations and pointing fingers. Roger Federer has expressed ‘disappointment’ in Andre Agassi, US Federation Cup captain Mary Joe Fernandez used the same word, adding that it was ‘a bit of a shock’, and International Tennis Federation president, Francesco Ricci Bitti issued a statement saying ‘it’s very unfortunate, I think what he did hurt our sport’.
However, as of this year, all cases against Andre Agassi over his drug use have been dropped. Although the World Anti-Doping Agency appealed for action, the statue of limitations on this case passed long since, making punishment impossible.
Agassi himself, when asked about his decision to break the silence, says: ‘It's an atonement. I have carried a heavy load. But it's also an opportunity to set the record straight.’
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