Andre Agassi

JP Liz

Tennis star Andre Agassi serves up a bombshell in his new memoir: In the late '90s he began regularly using crystal meth. "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," he tells PEOPLE.

Agassi's book, Open, details his descent into drug use, as well as his hair loss, his troubled marriage to Brooke Shields and the love he eventually found with his current wife, Steffi Graf.

Asked how he thought his fans would react if they found out he was using drugs, Agassi, 39, says: "I was worried for a moment, but not for long. ... I wore my heart on my sleeve and my emotions were always written on my face. I was actually excited about telling the world the whole story."

I’m really disappointed that he would choose to sell out like this. If he really wanted to share the meth story to help people or whatever reason he gives, he didn’t have to do it in effort to make profit. It’s trashy.

mattyhislop

JP Liz wrote: »

I’m really disappointed that he would choose to sell out like this. If he really wanted to share the meth story to help people or whatever reason he gives, he didn’t have to do it in effort to make profit. It’s trashy.

JP Liz, I have to say I disagree with you saying he "sold out". Agassi was always one of my favourite sports people growing up and still remains so. If anything I have even more respect for the man now for his honesty. I think it's a case of "damned if you do, damned if you don't" for him. If he hadn't published this and it came to light in future, he'd be slated for hiding it. By revealing it, he is seen as if he's trying to sell more books!

I certainly don't think he is short of a few bob so why would he need to use this revelation just to sell more copies of his book? We are not talking about some 15minute celebrity who is cashing in on a juicy autobiography; we are talking about one of the greatest tennis players of all time! He is one of only a handful of players to have won all four majors. What is even more remarkable is his total descent from the top of the sport in the mid to late 90s due to personal problems and his subsequent comeback where he rose back up the rankings to become world number one. He also won 4 more majors (I think) in this period.

I think it is a great story and one that I am very much looking forward to reading. Other sports people such as George Best had their problems and unfortunately never fully recovered. Agassi showed that not only can one come back in life but one can come back an even better player(or whatever area anyone is in) and person. Not only has he done a lot for tennis but he has contributed not just money but a lot of his time to set up a charity in Las Vegas whose aim is to look out for wayward children and try to get their lives back on track by focusing on athletics and academics. To me, that is an extremely worthy thing to do and he stands out to me and always has done as one of the most admirable sports people of his generation.

Sorry for the rant but I thought that was one post I had to reply to!

(And no, I’m not Andre Agassi!)

cleveroli

Have to agree with JP Liz - Why do they feel they always have to have a scandel to sell a book???

dixierip

The man has gone down in my estimation. Such sound bite inevitably accompany a new book release. I hope he feels its worth the damage to his reputation.

Blisterman

Have any of you read the book?

I just finished it, and thought it was excellent. Very honest. He doesn't shy away from criticising people he doesn't like. The crystal meth incident gets about a page in total. It's a minor episode as far as the whole book is concerned.
More shocking is the revelation that he has always hated tennis, even since he was a kid. He only played cause he felt obligated to.

bing3

I agree. Its a great read fro anyone interested in tennis.
The whole crystal meth was hyped out of all proportion. He mentioned it as it was of being candid about his tennis career but did not dwell on it. I would have had a lot less respect for him had it have come out in a newspaper.
He does get a little egomaniacal about his academy towards the end but i guess I can forgive him that.