Agassi can do no wrong...really?

Its been a few weeks since my last post, there were many great stories that I read about and wanted to comment on, but the Andre Agassi story has me going. So before I go on, full disclosure…I love tennis and have traveled as far as Paris to watch it. Also, even though I like and respected Agassi’s on court performances, what he has done with his foundation in Las Vegas has far outstripped his tennis accomplishments. Agassi has never been my favorite player of his generation, Boris Becker, Gustavo Kuerten, Jim Courier and Stefi Graf (his wife) were. While I’m at it…yes Stefi should have married me and not Andre, but that is beside the point.


Andre Agassi in his recently released autobiography “Open” talks about his use of crystal meth in 1997 and testing positive for the substance in a random ATP drug test that year. For the uninitiated, 1997 for Agassi was what Queen Elizabeth II would call “Annus horribilis.” Agassi’s off the court demons got the better of him, his game fell apart and his ranking plummeted to 141 in the world. We all wondered what was going on in his world and now we know. Agassi has also admitted to lying to the ATP, the governing body of the men’s tour, about how the drug got into his system. I think Agassi should make some sort of gesture, like a formal apology to the ATP, return prize winnings and appearance fees he received during the period in question. Or better yet, donate that money to an anti-drug program for youths and give a series of lectures at his academy about the detriments of drug use.


A number of tennis stars, current and past have come out against Agassi in the past couple weeks, Martina Navratilova, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Marrat Safin and Sergi Bruguera to name a few. Martina is quoted as saying “He’s up there with Roger Clemens, as far as I’m concerned.” I wonder, was Martina’s amazing physical change in the middle of her career all-natural? I don’t know, but she should be careful how she is casting stones. Bruguera even suggested that Agassi should give back his 1996 Olympic Gold medal. What could possibly be Bruguera’s motive? Just the gold medal itself, he was the runner up to Agassi at the Atlanta Games.


Let’s face it, crystal meth is not known for improving your quickness, muscle growth and hand-eye coordination, just the opposite. So Agassi was not trying to cheat, he was engaging in self-destructive behavior and there is a difference. The ATP could have and should have pursued the matter in 1997, but it chose not to. Even if Agassi lied to them, they could have looked further into the matter, maybe they did not want to taint one of the games biggest stars.


Its now 12 years after the fact, the ATP, ITF or any other body should not get a chance for a do-over here. Agassi you should step up and do something on your own that goes beyond the admission in your book, then go on and continue all the good work that you do on behalf of humanity.