Has been beaten in the US Open and accordingly is now retired. An absolute legend and certainly one of my favourite sportstars of all time. Andre, I salute you.
I saw him giving a tearful speech to the crowd there on the news. You have to laugh at Americans. A good lad though, I bought a Donnay racket in his honour after Wimbledon in 1992. I wish Andre, Steffi and Steffiâs legs all the very best in the future.
Is Steffi any relation to your Jimmy?
from rte.ie
Eight-time grand slam winner Andre Agassi has admitted in a new book that he lied to tennis authorities about his use of crystal methamphetamine in order to escape a ban.
Agassi, whose autobiography âOpenâ is set to be released next month, has sensationally revealed that he used the highly-addictive drug in 1997 as he struggled with professional and personal issues.
Agassi also revealed that he failed a drug test that year but managed to convince the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) not to punish him after writing a letter to argue the use was accidental.
Was that when he was banging Streisand? If so it could explain a lotâŚ
Makes a mockery of the ATP really - they covered up a failed drugs test.
Another example of a sport that does nothing to combat doping despite the very real evidence that a big problem exists in the sport.
Andy Murray by the way was tested twice in four days before and that was enough for him to go public on his distate for the drug testing in the sport.
Imagine cycling conducted itself the same way.
A man Bandage boy.
[quote=âRockoâ]Makes a mockery of the ATP really - they covered up a failed drugs test.
Another example of a sport that does nothing to combat doping despite the very real evidence that a big problem exists in the sport.
Andy Murray by the way was tested twice in four days before and that was enough for him to go public on his distate for the drug testing in the sport.
Imagine cycling conducted itself the same way.[/quote]
Didnât some french or spanish tennis player get away with failing a drugs test(tested positive for cocaine)lately by some bogus reason as wellâŚSaid he got off with some bird that was on coke or something like that
Richard Gasquet was the player:
http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/news/story?id=4329491
Gasquet cleared to resume playing
LONDON â Richard Gasquet escaped a lengthy doping ban Wednesday when the International Tennis Federationâs tribunal panel ruled that he inadvertently took cocaine by kissing a woman in a nightclub.
The 23-year-old Frenchman, who was cleared to resume playing after completing a 2-month ban on Wednesday, convinced the independent anti-doping tribunal that he ingested cocaine with the kiss with the woman he had just met.
The tribunal panel of three lawyers said Gasquet consumed no more than âa grain of saltâ of the drug, and a long ban would be an injustice in a case that was âunusual to the point of being probably unique.â
âWe have found the player to be a person who is shy and reserved, honest and truthful and a man of integrity and good character,â the tribunal said in its ruling. âHe is neither a cheat nor a user of drugs for recreational purposes.â
The ITF, which had sought a two-year ban under the terms of the World Anti-Doping Agencyâs code, was told to impose a retroactive ban of 2 months, 15 days. That cleared 32nd-ranked Gasquet to resume playing.
Gasquet will play again âin the next few weeks,â his spokesman Arnaud Lagardere said in a statement.
Gasquet tested positive in a urine sample in March after he pulled out of the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Fla., with a shoulder injury.
After deciding to withdraw from the tournament he went to a nightclub in Miami with friends to see a French DJ perform at a dance music festival, which the tribunal noted was ânotoriously associated with use of illegal recreational drugs including cocaine.â
Gasquet told the tribunal hearing held in London last month that he kissed a woman, identified in the ruling only as âPamela.â
The tribunal said it was likely she had consumed cocaine during the night, though it had no direct evidence.
Gasquet was âon the balance of probability, contaminated with cocaine by Pamelaâ and, therefore, not significantly at fault for the doping offense, the ruling said.
âWe take into account that the amount of cocaine in the playerâs body was so small that if he had been tested only a few hours later, his test result would be likely to have been negative,â the tribunal stated.
Gasquet also argued at the hearing that his positive test was given after he had pulled out of the Key Biscayne tournament. Cocaine is a banned drug for athletes in competition.
The tribunal said Gasquetâs rights to practice his profession would be infringed by a one-year suspension, though it was required to find that a doping offense was committed.
It also noted that Gasquet would be banned for life if he tested positive for a banned drug a second time.
The ruling allowed the Frenchman to keep the ranking points and prize money he gained at tournaments in April.
The ITF provisionally suspended Gasquet when the test result was announced in May and he was forced to miss the French Open and Wimbledon. His ranking has since dropped nine places.
The ruling can be appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport within three weeks.
Five-time Grand Slam champion Martina Hingis also tested positive for cocaine, after losing at Wimbledon in 2007, and was banned for two years.
Hingis denied taking the drug but did not appeal the ruling and immediately announced her retirement when the test result was revealed in November 2007. She is eligible to resume her career after the ban ends on Sept. 30, her 29th birthday.
Like Hingis, Gasquet was also tipped for stardom as a teen but failed to follow the Swiss champion by quickly fulfilling his potential.
Gasquet won his first matches on the ATP Tour as a 15-year-old and his ranking peaked at No. 7 after reaching the semifinals at Wimbledon in 2007, when he lost to Roger Federer.
i dont see the problem in players taking recreational drugs
its not good for the image of the game or attracting sponsors thoughâŚ
true- so the tennis authorities were right in not following up on agassi:thumbsup:
exactlyâŚ
method to their madnessâŚ
[quote=âscumpotâ]exactlyâŚ
method to their madnessâŚ[/quote]
cheers
thats crystal clear now