Andre Agassi Comments on Armstrong’s Situation

Written by: Staff on 25th January 2013

Andre Agassi Comments on Armstrong’s Situation

epa03555043 Former tennis players Andre Agassi (L) of the US and Rod Laver of Australia pose with men's singles trophy, the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup, at the Australian Open 2013 in Melbourne, Australia, 25 January 2013. EPA/FIONA HAMILTON / TENNIS AUSTRALIA AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES |

Andre Agassi and Lance Armstrong used to sit happily together on the board of Athletes For Hope, a body designed to inspire, empower, commit to a better life for those less fortunate by the use of sport.

Now Armstrong stands a disgraced figure after admitting guilt to doping allegations and Agassi admitted he was as dismayed as anyone to hear the admission of the multiple Tour de France champion.

“Well, my reaction to it is the same as everybody,” said Agassi on his return to the Australian Open for the first time since last contesting the tournament in 2005 . “It was shock, hard to stomach, sadness, disappointment. I think ‘anger’ is a fair word. I was certainly one of those that flat out believed him that long period of time.

“The thought of it not being the case was unconscionable to me. My next reaction went to Live Strong and all the people it helps, people fighting for their lives, survivors of real battles, and I hope for its survive this.”

Then Agassi turned his attention to his attention to drug testing in tennis, which developed into a third party testing program during his career. As was famously admitted in his autobiography ‘Open’, Agassi transgressed the ATP World Tour’s drug laws with the use of the recreational drug crystal meth. He subsequently escaped punishment after writing to the ATP, insisting he ingested the drug by drinking a friend’s soda spiked with the narcotic.

Agassi used his book to admit this was a lie but now he is very strong on the drug issue in tennis. “Anything that can protect the integrity of the sport, and those that aren’t cheating should absolutely be considered,” he said.

“I mean, what is the downside? But unfortunately, we’re at a day and age where the more transparency you have in all of it the better off it all is and the better off these athletes are.

“It’s sad to watch people who may question things for those that worked pretty darn hard, you know. But, yeah, I think that tennis has always sort of led the way. I really believe that. You know, for their own reasons I might have played a part in it, for them going to WADA and the governance that has no horse in the race. That, to me, is a great thing.”

Topics: Andre Agassi, Australian Open, Lance Armstrong, Sports, tennis doping, Tennis News