12 December,2009 07:03 AM IST | | Agencies
American tennis ace Andre Agassi made his drugs confession in his autobiography "Open" as he wants others to avoid the mistakes he made.
The 39-year-old said this yesterday during a release event of his controversial autobiography.
Agassi caused a huge stir when he admitted in his book to having taken the crystal meth drug during his career in 1997 and then lied to ATP officials to escape a ban, saying he'd sipped on a spiked drink accidentally.
Andre Agassi during a release function of his new autobiography
"Open" in Berlin yesterday. pic/afp
"I want to give (people) the opportunity to avoid the mistakes I made. Problems, pain and depression are nothing bad: we all share the same struggle, regardless of how much money and titles you have. The name of the book is not Open because of the drugs but to let you see into my mind," Agassi said.
Current tennis stars like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Marat Safin had expressed shock over the American's revelations.
Agassi, who retired in 2006 and is one of only six players to have won all four majors Grand Slams said his wife and former German star Steffi Graf was proud of his book. "Her (Graf's) reaction to the book was great trust. I believe that she is very proud," heu00a0 said.
