Andy Roddick, Roger Federer, the Williams sisters and others have responded to Andre Agassi’s “shocking” confession that he used crystal meth and lied to the ATP about it after a drug test came back positive.
UPDATE: Rafael Nadal was less moderate than others in his reaction to Agassi’s confession. He wonders why “now that he is retired, he comes out and says this,” adding, “it’s a way of senselessly damaging the sport.”
“If the ATP covered for Agassi at the time, then I think that’s dreadful,” Nadal, the world No 2, said in Madrid yesterday. “The only thing I can say is that if they covered at that moment for the player and punished others for doing the same kind of thing, then that would seem to me to be a lack of respect for all sportsmen.” (via BBC)
Roger Federer responded today at a press conference with his new sponsor, Lindt, calling Agassi’s confession “a shock”. Quotes via Blick.ch (translated):
“I am disappointed that something like this has happened. I hope that the outing was good for Agassi.”
“With his Foundation, he (Agassi) has generated over 100 million U.S. dollars. This is at the forefront.”
“In the future, such a thing won’t happen. The sport must remain healthy.”
Andy Roddick via Twitter:
“Andre is and always will be my idol. I will judge him on how he has treated me and how he has changed the world for (the) better.”
“To be fair, when Andre wrote the reported letter, he was well outside the top 100 and widely viewed as on the way out.”
Serena Williams gives a classic response in Doha (via Reuters):
“I don’t even know what crystal meth is so, you know, that’s what my reaction to it is. I haven’t read anything about Andre Agassi’s book. All I know is that I have a book coming out.“
And Venus: “His book will probably sell. It seems very interesting, to say the least.”
He may not be a tennis super-star, but I like this reaction from CBS columnist Ray Ratto:
“Hope it’s very therapeutic for him. Hope it causes someone else to walk away from meth, or coke, or Peruvian poisonous toad extract, or whatever else is out there now. We’re not here to kick a guy now that he’s back up, although in fairness we’ve always found honesty to be more refreshing when it doesn’t come at $31.99 a copy.“
Here’s the ATP’s official statement:
“Under the tennis anti-doping programme it is, and has always been, an independent panel that makes a decision on whether a doping violation has been found. The ATP has always followed this rule and no executive at the ATP has therefore had the authority or ability to decide the outcome of an anti-doping matter.“
And Francesco Ricci Bitti, the International Tennis Federation president:
“The ITF is surprised and disappointed by the remarks made by Andre Agassi in his biography admitting substance abuse in 1997. Such comments in no way reflect the fact that the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme is currently regarded as one of the most rigorous and comprehensive anti-doping programmes in sport. The events in question occurred before the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) was founded in 1999 and during the formative years of anti-doping in tennis when the programme was managed by individual governing bodies.”
What with the drug confessions, memories of an abusive father and stories of hustling around the courts as a kid, this book will definitely be on my nightstand after it comes out in November. Are you buying it?
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