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It has been several years since Andre Agassi stepped on a tennis court as a pro, but apparently he isn't finished serving aces.
Agassi, who grew up with the "image is everything" mantra but developed into one of the most genuine athletes of his generation, is back in the news with the upcoming release of his autobiography, "Open."
In it Agassi makes the stunning admission that he used crystal meth in the 1990s and lied his way out of a suspension when he failed a drug test.
Oh yeah, and he hated tennis when he was growing up, too.
That last bit of truth isn't nearly as shocking as his drug revelation. There are countless stories of young tennis stars whose parents toed the line between strict parenting and child abuse with their emphasis on the sport.
Agassi's father was no different. However, what is surprising and sad is the depth of Agassi's hate for the game that eventually brought him fame, fortune, a famous wife and eight Grand Slam titles before he retired in 2008.
I naively thought the only rules Agassi broke as a tennis player were wearing denim at Wimbledon and sporting a mullet as a cool thing.
Little did anyone know what was really going on behind the scenes in the Agassi camp. That he was simply able to lie his way out of the drug test too, blaming it on a supposedly spiked soda, makes one wonder just how much trust we should put in the drug tests run by the ATP.
Perhaps the organization was
Agassi kept his drug use quiet enough that his revelation has rocked the tennis world. Both Federer and Rafael Nadal have expressed their disappointment, believing the details will hurt the game, while Martina Navratilova compared him to Roger Clemens, who has denied drug abuse on several occasions.
All a little harsh I believe. At least Agassi had the guts to come clean now. Cynics will say he did so to merely sell more books. I tend to believe he is speaking the truth now to ease the guilt of his dishonesty.
The truth is going to hurt his image, but image, it seems, is the least of his concerns anymore.
