American Andre Agassi has admitted in his new autobiography he lied to tennis authorities about his use of crystal methamphetamine to escape a ban, a BBC report says.According to the report of the BBC, Eight-time grand slam winner Agassi said he wanted to share "my bad decisions which, in a few instances, nearly ended in catastrophe".
The 39-year-old, who retired in 2006, also stated it was "not easy being so candid" and "brutally honest".
Agassi admitted he used the drug with ex-assistant "Slim" in 1997.
"I felt my story was one from which many people could learn," he added in a video promoting the book.
The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) said it could not comment because it withdrew a doping case against Agassi.
In response, the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) called on the association to "shed light" on the case.
Meanwhile, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) said it was "surprised and disappointed" by Agassi's remarks.
Writing about the first time he used crystal meth, Agassi says: "vast sadness and regret" followed his taking of the drug.
"Slim dumps a small pile of powder on the coffee table," writes Agassi in his book, which the Times is serialising.
"He cuts it, snorts it. He cuts it again. I snort some.
"Then comes a tidal wave of euphoria that sweeps away every negative thought in my head. I've never felt so alive, so hopeful - and I've never felt such energy."
Crystal meth is classified in the UK as a class A drug - the category for those considered to be the most harmful and which attract the most serious punishments and fines.
It looks like small ice crystals and is a very powerful and addictive form of the stimulant speed, which can be eaten, inhaled through the nose or injected.
Agassi, who is widely considered to be among the greatest tennis players of all time, recounts in the book, which is called 'Open', being introduced to the drug in 1997 by his one-time assistant.
Agassi was enduring the worst year of his professional career in 1997 as he struggled with a wrist injury, and his world ranking slumped to a low of 141 in November of that year.
The 39-year-old revealed he failed a drugs test that year but escaped a ban by saying his use was accidental.
Agassi, who is married to former women's world number one Steffi Graf, later writes that he received a call from a doctor working for the ATP in the autumn of 1997 to inform him that he had failed a drugs test.
The Las Vegas-born American says he wrote a letter to the ATP to argue the use was accidental, blaming his former assistant Slim.
"My name, my career, everything is now on the line. Whatever I've achieved, whatever I've worked for, might soon mean nothing," Agassi writes.
"Days later I sit in a hard-backed chair, a legal pad in my lap, and write a letter to the ATP. It's filled with lies interwoven with bits of truth.
"I say Slim, whom I've since fired, is a known drug user, and that he often spikes his sodas with meth - which is true. Then I come to the central lie of the letter.
"I say that recently I drank accidentally from one of Slim's spiked sodas, unwittingly ingesting his drugs. I ask for understanding and leniency and hastily sign it: Sincerely.
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