“I'm the last person to throw stones, as there have been some difficult times in my own life, but to hear that he took crystal meth, that certainly puts a whole new light on Andre and it's not a beautiful light…

“I'm struggling to get my head around why Andre would want to confess to something so damaging as taking drugs and then getting away with it? Why would he want to be so brutally honest?…

“I'm really surprised that he would want to discuss such a private part of his life, to talk about such a bad period in his life. I'm sure this will help to sell his book. He doesn't need the money, though. He's a rich man.”
-Boris Becker


As the world is going through a shockwave following Andre Agassi's drug confession in his autobiography, there is another question looming in our minds that is largely unexplained. Boris Becker's reaction I suppose catches the essence of it though his explanation may not be entirely acceptable. The facts are all public property, discussions are rife, speculations are in the air. We take a break from the when's and where's in this article and try to look inside.


Why did he do it? I am not wondering why he actually took the blasted thing, perhaps that has an answer. But why did Agassi want to admit it to the world after such a long time? He has already won the Grand Slams which perhaps someone else would have won if it had not been for his drug aid and he has already had his share of popularity. Most people seem to be of the opinion that this outrageous admission – for outrageous it no doubt is – is strategically aimed to increase the profits from the sales of the book. But accepting that most probably he is beyond retribution at this point, isn't he paying too huge a price? If a person you have celebrated at one point of time, had actually perpetrated his success through means that not even success can justify, he probably does not even have an identity that is true.


When I say I can understand why Agassi had taken drugs in the first place, I see the explanation in a nature that is essentially weak. And there is no reason why anyone should sympathize with weakness of this kind, it has caused too many ruins in history. The fact that is most unfortunate is that a ruin has the most impact when there is greatness involved, the typical 'hamartia' or 'tragic flaw' syndrome. Ben Jonson being tested positive for drugs just after his historic 100m win defeating Carl Lewis in the Olympics, Hanse Cronje' s admission to betting in Cricket after being considered one of the most respected skippers in the world, Diego Maradona's many trysts with drugs, Mike Tyson's terrible confessions on 'Oprah' and his arrest on drug charges and subsequent sentence…the list of famous disappointers goes on.


Andre Agassi's confessions seem to be pouring in. His assistant had introduced him to crystal meth, his father had given him Speed before tournaments, the superstar seems to be on a roll admitting his mistakes. It seems even his mane of rockstar hair had been a wig. If you saying – “now surely that has nothing to do with the game”, hear this. Agassi actually had prayed on occasions, not for his victory, but for his wig to be in place. And all the while when fans have lost sleep if he had lost his form.


In a separate development, David Howman, the director general of Wada (World Anti-Doping Agency) intends to write to the tennis authorities to ask them to investigate "the possibility of perjury" or "a breach of the law" following Agassi's admission that he explained his positive test result for crystal meth in 1997 by claiming he had "unwittingly" taken the drug in a "spiked soda". It does not matter what ATP decides, the damage is done.It is not a big deal that he has admitted truth at last. It only means that he never had any consideration for what his fans might feel. However much tears he has shed on court.
Just wondering what Steffi might have to say.