28 Oct 2009

Agassi admits he tested positive for P

2:56 pm on 28 October 2009

Tennis great Andre Agassi admits he tested positive for hard drugs during his career and lied to sporting authorities to escape a ban.

Agassi, who won eight Grand Slam titles, reveals in his autobiography to testing positive for the highly addictive drug crystal methamphetamine or P.

Now 39, Agassi also says he's always secretly hated playing tennis and lived in fear of his bad-tempered and violent father.

In the book, serialised in London-based The Times newspaper, Agassi reveals how he took P in 1997 when his form was falling and he was having doubts about his impending marriage to US actress Brooke Shields.

He then duped tennis authorities into believing he had taken the drug accidently, according to the newspaper.

The repercussions for Agassi's career could have been disastrous if the positive test was made public.