Andre Agassi reveals crystal meth use, lying to drug testers in new memoir

Andre Agassi has a new memoir coming out at the end of the week called Open. The 39 year-old tennis great reveals that he had a crystal meth addiction in 1997, right before he made the decision to marry his first wife, Brooke Shields. Agassi and Shields lasted just two years, divorcing in 1999, and according to this timeline it sounds like he quit meth well before they split.

He writes that his assistant introduced him to the drug, after which he went through a career slump that ended when he tested positive for drugs and decided to quit. Agassi was able to continue playing after the positive test by lying to the tennis regulatory agency, the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) by claiming he’d accidentally injested drugs when he took a sip of his ex-assistant’s soda spiked with meth. The ATP through the test out and never knew he was lying until this revelation:

Andre Agassi used crystal meth while he was playing professional tennis, according to a new autobiography to be released next month.

The Times of London plans to serialize the book and released details on Tuesday which describe how Agassi came to use the drug and how he avoided discipline by the ATP.

In 1997, Agassi was struggling with his game and with his decision to marry actress Brooke Shields. His assistant, identified as Slim, introduced him to the drug, according to the excerpt.

“Slim is stressed too … He says, You want to get high with me? On what? Gack. What the hell’s gack? Crystal meth,” Agassi recounts in the book. “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,” Agassi says.

“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, according to The Times, Agassi receives a call from a doctor working with the ATP, telling him that he has failed a drug test.

“My name, my career, everything is now on the line,” Agassi recounts in the book. “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 threw out the positive drug test and it did not surface until now.

Agassi had won the Olympic gold medal in the 1996 Atlanta Games, but didn’t win a major in 1997, dropping to No. 141 in the rankings.

He resuscitated his career in 1998, making the biggest one-year jump into the top 10 in the history of the ATP rankings. The next season, he won the French Open to complete a career Grand Slam, then added a second career U.S. Open title en route to finishing 1999 at No. 1.

He 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.

[From ESPN]

When a celebrity reveals past drug use it seems par for the course, but when a professional athlete reveals he was under the influence while playing it can be explosive. In Agassi’s case he quit when he got caught and he clearly paid the price for it – his performance suffered at the time. I’m not sure what kind of fallout he’ll receive for this from the ATP. He retired in 2006.

Agassi has been married to his second wife, retired German tennis player Steffi Graff, for eight years. They have two children: son Jaden, 8, and daughter Jaz, 5. By most accounts he’s a great guy, and it sounds like he’s only human.

Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf are shown on 9/26/09 in Las Vegas at a benefit for his charity, “The Andre Agassi Foundation For Education.” Credit: Chris Connor/WENN.com

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