Agassi admits using crystal meth

American tennis legend Andre Agassi has admitted using crystal methamphetamine a year before he won the French Open in 1998, and that he lied to the sport's governing bodies in the same period about a positive drugs test to avoid a ban.

The 39-year-old, who is only one of six men in history to have finished a career grand slam of winning titles at all four majors, confessed in his autobiography that he took the highly addictive narcotic in 1997 while suffering poor form and to quell worries about his upcoming marriage to actress Brooke Shields.

The eight-time grand slam champion revealed in his book how he felt when he first took the substance , possession of which carries a maximum five-year prison sentence in the United States.

"Slim [Agassi's assistant] dumps a small pile of powder on the coffee table. He cuts it, snorts it. He cuts it again. I snort some. I ease back on the couch and consider the Rubicon I've just crossed.

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