Loved the blog entry. Points well made.
I wonder though if there was another motive behind Agassi's confession. Of course he did for money if that's not the case.
I feel a lot less respect for the guy right now. Don't tennis players make enough cash as it is? Especially someone like Agassi?

I would love to think that he had some other motive than money, ashafr. That maybe he wasn't thinking of how horrible it would make the ATP look when he divulged "they dismissed it". But...I just can't imagine that would be the case.

Cheryl, very well written. I agree with you that it is not so shocking that Agassi took crystal meth but more shocking at the way ATP just rolled it under the carpet, waved their hands and pretended nothing happened. Just because his name is Andre Agassi. Richard Gasquet didn't have that because his name is Richard Gasquet.

I have to say that it did hit me that Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal is going to cop the brunt of it. Federer who managed to remain relatively injury-free for most of his career, only pulling out ONCE in mid-tournament and plowing through a mono-plagued year? People are going to wonder whether did he take any "performance enhancing drugs. Rafa...those arms, those muscles, that energy...need I say more? Steroids, anyone?

It goes on my record though I believe Federer and Nadal never did anything of the Agassi sort. Bearing in mind that Mirka and Toni will murder them respectively. But you can't deny the impact of the Agassi-ATP scandal on them...and not only them but probably also players like Djokovic, Murray and even Del Potro.

One of the things that really bothers me, jyannis, is that if this WERE Roger or Rafa? Neither of them would take a bunch of people down with them. Rafa in particular has ALWAYS been supportive of fellow players. He supported Davydenko with the betting scandal, he STRONGLY support Gasquet with the cocaine thing. Federer generally makes no comment at all, but the fact remains that in their own way, both of them have class. They're classy guys.

I guess Andre could learn something...

Cheryl - I get what you mean. Andre's career is over (in some sense) and there are going to be so much less repercussions but his agent/manager/person thingie and the ATP is going to cope so much over this.

I agree with you - if it's Roger or Rafa, they will suck it up without pointing fingers or as you said bringing down a whole bunch of people with them. Firmly believe thay have the integrity to admit wrongdoing and the consequences of their own actions and bearing responsibility for that.

I have to say this whole scandal has placed Andre in a different light for me seeing that he is still an ambassador for the spot. Not a flattering light at all unfortunately.

Cheryl,

I am sure you didn't enjoy writing this blog. But I think you said what needed to be said. I have to wonder if Agassi really understood all of the possible implications and potential consequences of revealing this information in its entirety. How much better and more honest it would have been if he had just chosen to come out and say he took this drug on his own and leave it at that. Now it's like he has created this whole controversy that may well cast a cloud over the sport of tennis.

I do agree that Roger and Rafa may well be the ones hurt most by this revelation. They are the face of tennis right now, its brightest stars. Their every move and action will be watched with a critical eye. I know that neither of them would ever even think of taking anyone else down with them. Both of these men have shown a high level of personal responsibility and integrity in their careers.

I am simply at a loss to understand why Agassi did this the way he did.

AA always wants to be in the spotlight no matter what. Can he just retire graciously?

jessica...
while Cerryl's comment on how Agassi's confessions may hurt certain people is spot on,I don't think Agassi has done a 100% wrong thing. I don't think he needs to gain attention,he still has it!
the 1st thing that came to my mind about his confession,was that he was probably trying to feel less guilty. or maybe now he understands that the officials shouldn't have overlooked the issue,so is revealing his secret at the cost of his image maybe.
but,what Cerryl pointed out about Roger and Rafa's image is the saddest thing indeed. :(
I had already read some accusation of Rafa or Roger taking certain drugs which I personally found ridiculous,but Agassi ceratinly gave credibility to those ppl in their view.

Cherryl,thanks for the blog,but just sth about your comment. ..I hope I'm not being nitpicky but Roger DID speak in favor of Davydenko about that betting thing.and Davydenko thanked him for it. (sorry for the irrelevant point,but I needed to correct it!)

oops..sorry for misspelling your name 3 times,Cheryl! excuse me.

niloofar,if he confessed in a book to feel less guilty i feel like he should have took his problem to the lord,repented and left it there.His little confession effects his wife,children,the ATP,other players creditability and how he'll be perceived from now own.(IMO) it's just really sad to me.

i'm still struggling to see what all the fuss is about. if he took performance-enhancing drugs, that's different. why is it even news? it's not like he was the first and will be the last. and it was 12 years ago. who cares!? ok...well...lots of people obviously...

It's a weird name, niloofar. Don't worry about it. :)

homos - you're right. He didn't take juice, and so as I said in the blog entry, the TAKING of the drugs is a non-story. However, the ATP blatantly disregarded its own doping rules because he was Andre, and THAT is a big deal.

homos,if you don't see anything wrong in a person taking a drug(that in my opinion is worse than crack) that effects your health and you mind and then lieing to the ATP that it was someone else that took it. then..ok..everyone is different.

niloofar.....not only was roger very vocal about davy, and gasquet IN SUPPORT, but also BLAKE....so you are right there....i read the same articles too, as well as reading Blakes autobiography.....(i know that was about injury...where federer was a massive support to him....and davy and gasquet were about 'scandals')....nevertheless fed doesnt get the credit, because he likes to do things in a quieter way...if you know what i mean....

homos, i actually agree with you to a degree, but as you know crystal meth is NOT a performance hancing drug...it is a recreational drug. I also dont think that AA divulged this for money....he doesnt need the money...he is a millionaire ten times over....His book is being serialised in the Times, and for those of you who are interested in the 'whys'...read on....BUT i think it is a bit unfair to start having a go at a man who did something wrong in his life, admitted it...yes it will have repercussions...but it was AA's decision at that time......i think he probably did this because it was a 'cleansing of his soul'....and he probably told his wife about it anyway......people are so judgmental......everyone gets low in their life/some more than others...and we do different things.....action...reaction...cause and effect and all of that....but when i started reading this yesterday, i felt sorry for AA because his father has got to take a big part in the way that he 'moulded' his son......His father was a nutcase...a puritanical ogre...one example: (His father carried an axe with him everywhere - when he went out driving in his car)....

'I'm driving with my father one day, and he gets into a shouting match with another driver. My father stops his car, steps out, orders the man out of his. Because my father is wielding his axe handle, the man refuses. My father whips the axe handle into the man's headlights and tail lights, sending sprays of glass everywhere.....Another time, my father reaches across me and points his handgun at another driver. He holds the gun level with my nose. I stare straight ahead. I don't move. I dont know what the other driver has done wrong, only that it's the automative equivalent of hitting into the net. I feel my father's fingers tensing on the trigger. Then I hear the other driver speed away, followed by a sound I rarely hear - my father laughing. He's busting a gut......Such moments come to mind whenever I think about telling my father I dont want to play tennis. Bad stuff happens when my father is upset......

Can you imagine being brought up on an elastic band environment since you were young...being stretched to the limit, mentally and emotionally? Im surprised he didnt snap years ago......

This is exactly the moment that AA took the meth and the circumstances surrounding it - as printed in The Times Wednesday, October, 28 2009..

I'm at my house in Las Vegas, watching TV with Slim, my assistant. Im in a bad way. Gil's 12 year old daughter, Kacey, who broke her neck in a snow-sledding accident, isnt doing well after surgery. Meanwhile, my wedding to Brooke Shields looms. I think all the time about postponing it, or calling it off, but I dont know how. Slim is stressed too. He was with his girlfriend recently, he says and the condom broke. Now shes late. He announces that theres only one thing to do. Get high. He says, You want to get high with me?
On what?
Gack.
What the hells gack?
Crystal meth.
Who do they call it gack?
Because thats the sound you make when youre high. Your mind is going so fast, all you can say is gack, gack, gack.
Thats how I feel all the time. Whats the point?
Make you feel superman dude.
As if theyre coming out of someones mouth, I hear these words....You know what? sic...yeah...Lets get high. I consider the rubicon Ive just crossed......There is a moment of regret, followed by vast sadness, then comes a tidal wave of euphoria that sweeps away every negative thought in my head......Im seized by a desperate desire to clean......

there is more everyone....but may be later.......anyway...i know its long....but i think before everyone starts judging AA, there is always a background to a decision like this.......

i also dont think that federer or rafa should be brought into this.....its about AA and his decision, based in my opinion living a life of violence at home...that is evident....

Thanks for the exerts Malt:).. but I'm sure many of us have stories about our family life not being ideal and stories of how we made silly mistakes in life and experimented with stuff.

I can't cast stones at him.I have a problem with the timing of the admission, the way and reason it was done and how it affect others.

yes. alik, i see your point....i just feel sorry for AA.....if he had taken the drug to cheat then yes....we would be having a whole different conversation.....but he didnt....it was in the privacy of his home....i would never do drugs myself....ever....but people do.....lots of people at uni smoke dope and take crystal...its their choice......and you know.....i dont condone what he did.....but its not as if he killed someone.....?..and also....as individuals we react to things in different ways......its not as if he needs the money from this book......he does so much good stuff out there with his charitable association that helps the young people of Las Vegas....if he had admitted to what he did way back then, he would have been suspended for 3 months.....i actually think that his sentence has been longer.....the guilt....the mental effect on him.....he is serving - and continues to serve - a much longer sentence....dont you think?....he didnt cheat...he went on to win a further 5 grand slams...he is still a great champion...i dont think people should forget that alik......as homos says...it was such a long time ago......the ATP wouldnt comment yesterday.....other than to say these issues are dealt with by an independent body....not them...so i guess we will just have to wait and see.....

cheryl, i was refering to the drug taking itself, wondering why so many people see it as a big deal, not you obviously. as for the atp covering up, i think i'm so cynical about them that it's like water off a duck's back for me.

alik, don't get me wrong. i don't condone taking ANY drug taking or even smoking and access drinking (call me a bore). but andre did this 12 years ago and for some reason, a story has been made of it for reasons i can't understand and even if i did would still probably see it as a lame move. i'm with malteser, i don't think he did it for money but that's just an opinion. i like agassi but i can't understand why he bothered to reveal something so many other players past present and future will probably take to their grave. what we should remember is that nobody is perfect. andre may have taken drugs, players abuse MTO, some people murder others, steal, rape, etc, we all have faults, some of them criminal - i guess i'm looking at the big picture, and probably not explaining myself very well.

the thing i agree with cheryl is that it does make certain people look bad. for this, i say agassi should have followed sampras' example. even with girlfriends, he didn't even name them in his book or throw dirt on them the way other autobios have (e.g. mcenroe). i mean his kids will probably read it one day and god only knows what they'll think!

oh, I wasn't trying to have a go at Roger. I just didn't remember him saying much about the Gasquet thing. Rafa was very vocal about it and Richard specifically thanked him for the support. That's why I brought it up.

i wonder, when agassi first penned this bit for his book, whether he had any idea the media and fans would make a hoo ha about it.

Speaking of drugs and the ATP:
http://www.svd.se/sportspel/nyheter/artikel_3687813.svd
Soderli ng and the french open..Wooooo!(lol)

what is it about alik? translation... or am i missing something?

I just found it on another site.It's in swedish so i used google to translate( not good at posting..sorry:))..
anywhoo..soderling was no where to be found for his testing at the french open...I don't know..Just very interesting to me..more drama:)

homos...another take on this is that I-F agassi.. had left the crystal meth reference
O-U-T of his book - his autobiography - a 'tell all about his life....' and painted a perfect picture, you can bet there would have been someone out there who would have K-N-O-W-N about agassi's episode with crystal....would have crawled out of the woodwork and shouted from a very great height....'I know that Agassi was on drugs...and he didn't mention T-H-A-T in his book....so he is kind of damned if he writes it and damned if he doesnt....a... d-i-l-e-m-m-a....a lot of 'retired' players write their autos...so what is the point in writing one if you arent going to tell the truth...? in many ways...this could be a message to others N-O-T to do what he did....but people make their own choices in life (to a degree)....there are cities in America as you know which are ravaged by this drug.....a UK reporter, Louis Theroux did a recent docu over in chicago...(I think it was chicago...)...it was very, very scary...but these were addicts....agassi wasnt an addict...in the same way that gasquet was not an addict.....i think he has been brave in admitting this...but perhaps he should make his apologies in person to the ATP when he wrote them the letter......

oh ok thanks alik. yes interesting drama. maybe we'll get more news on that soon, cheryl will write a blog, and we'll all argue with each other :)

malty: good point. personally, as i said, i do agree with cheryl. if people were going to get hurt or look bad, i hope he considered other options. but yeah, for sure some nutjob would have cashed in at andre's expense. i think he revealed it because it was a part of his life and if he was at a low, than so be it. i agree - why lie in an autobio? if you can't even be honest with yourself, there's no hope. i just don't think we should be so harsh. we weren't in his shoes, how do we know how he really felt? i'd rather he take meth once, twice, that's it, than slash his wrists. agassi said a long time ago, can't remember when, either late in his career or shortly after he retired that he wasn't that interested in tennis but was too scared of his father to refuse. at the time, i didn't understand but now i see what a nut job dad was.

alik, here it is:

Federer calls for tougher measures against doping

Published: October 22, 2009 10.13

World number one Roger Federer require tougher measures against doping. Swiss want the International Tennis Federation (ITF) will save doping samples for eight years instead of the current three months.

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Svenska Dagbladet on Tuesday could reveal to the world tian Robin Soderling had a doping warning after he missed a test during the French Open.

Several of the world's top players criticize the new WADA Code which was introduced in January this year and, among other things, requires players to explain where they will be located one hour each day during which the next quarter.

"We are humans, but this is an inhumane hunt for us," said world number two Rafael Nadal.

-Not even my parents or my uncle (Nadal coach Toni Nadal) know where I am every day so I do not understand why all outsiders to know where I am 365 days a year, "said the Spaniard who along with Scot Andy Murray is one of the WADA - Code's sharpest critics.

But they may not be backed up by the sport's biggest fixed star.

Svenska Dagbladet today can tell you that Roger Federer contacted the ITF to get the organization to exercise the option of saving doping samples for eight years.

So far, the International Association of Athletics Federations, the only specialized federations follow the International Olympic Committee (IOC) example.

"It's a question of cost and space but more associations are showing interest to save the samples in eight years," said WADA's vice-president Arne Ljungqvist.

-That a person who makes Federer's efforts to get a change to a position in tennis is an important signal, like Ljungqvist.

WADA President David Howman says that it is mainly tennis players who kritiserae the new WADA code.

"It seems that they really understood it. Murray complained that doping control officials knocked on his hotel door just before eight o'clock one morning when he had nevertheless indicated that he had just that day would be in his hotel room between seven and eight.

The current rules say that doping tests must be saved in three months since the analytical methods and continuous improvement is adopted more doping cases revealed the time is extended to eight years.

Robin Soderling of two parts.

-If the player is still active, it is one thing, but eight years is a long time and I do not know what it would be useful to reveal a player who has already left, "said Soderling.

"You can not punish the player and it does not help either the opponent he defeated so I see no profit in it," says World

homos your funny:) Thanks carrie..xo:)...all this news is happening so fast it's hard to keep up sometimes:)

I am never ever going to post anything to do with Roger, no matter what it is, ever again, because, as I said, I don't need an earfull.
carrie , 10/28/09 1:51 PM

that was shortlived carrie....

zoey...there are a few more articles on federer out there...in answer to your question earlier....i'll try and find a few of the ones (to match yours!)....and then we can get used to gearing up for the federer to be back in business very soon!!....

sky is back by the way zoey....on another thread! where has he been!!!!!

This is what Rafa had to say about the Agassi case, it's a translation, so not very fluent english:

"I think we have a clean sport and I am one who loves you, though I disagree with the forms"

Asked about the surprise statements Andre Agassi, in which the U.S. admitted having used drugs. "I think fatal," said Nadal, who said he did not understand "why say that now because he is retired, is a way of hurting the sport without any sense. If at the time the ATP covered the topic of Agassi and yes I passed other seems a lack of respect for all sports and from my point of view I want, I believe and hope that none of this is happening now. I think we have a clean sport and I am one who loves you, though I disagree with forms. The cheats must be punished and if Agassi was a cheat in his day should have been punished, "settlement.

The sad thing is that the ATP has been very heavy handed with players who inadvertently injested banned substances through medication, like MARK NIELSEN.

' A Little-known New Zealand professional Nielsen was suspended for two years in 2006 after testing positive for finasteride, which was on the banned list due to its potential as a masking agent. It transpired Nielsen had been using an anti-balding medication which contained the substance, however that did not spare him a ban.'

Daily Mail


I agree that this leaves people suspecting that the current top players are being protected, especially Roger and Rafa who are very high profile. The ATP should at least come out with a statement to clear up this mess. Agassi wasn't that high profile in 1997, although he had been No 1 in 1995, he started 1997 as No 8 and ended it as No 110, so why did they want to protect him.

He has certainly damaged the sport and the ATP has to explain itself.

Look at the Fed's physique and who would think he is taking steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs? Now Nadal has a lot more muscle so people may suspect him but I'd be surprised if he were that stupid.

chr18, I doubt that both Roger and Rafa ever touch any illegal substances to be honest. I guess one thing Agassi can say is that his father/family is #$%# up and both Fed and Rafa have loving and supportive families and will never really tempted to "escape" and "get high".

But the issue here really is not ZOMG Agassi took drugs but more of ZOMG Agassi took drugs, made up a shoddy lie that even a 3-year-old would not believe, ATP covered it and shove it under the rug as Cheryl had stated. Granted he was not the best player in 1997 but he is still ANDRE AGASSI and his mere game speaks volumes. His name is still able to sell tickets to tournaments despite his ranking and to put it bluntly, ATP did not want to lose their cash cow.

But now with Andre cashing in on his cows POST-EVERYTHING, ATP is the one that is getting brute brunt of it and a lot of explaining and clarifying to do - but what can they say really?

I have to say the ones that will ultimately be worse off are the current players on tour. It's going to get much worse than the whole "reporting whereabouts for an hour" thing...ITF is going to have so much to back them up on making the drug tests even more restrictive and ridiculous. In the end, tennis loses, integrity and all.

rafa isn't actually that much more heavier/bigger than fed, he just seems to appear so.

jyannis- your post (imo) is the best i've read on this subject.

"in the end, tennis loses, integrity and all.."

exactly, & why i wish this story would go away and agassi could have made his confession in private.

Excellent blog. I share your outrage and disappointment! So I'll also share here for you the comment I posted elsewhere on this site. It's reportedly from CBS columnist Ray Ratto about Agassi:

"Hope it?s very therapeutic for him. Hope it causes someone else to walk away from meth, or coke, or Peruvian poisonous toad extract, or whatever else is out there now. We're not here to kick a guy now that he's back up, although in fairness we've always found honesty to be more refreshing when it doesn't come at $31.99 a copy."

homos, nadal doesn't weight that much more than Roger, but his arms and legs are WAY bigger. Roger just has a higher percentage of body fat than Rafa.

Rafa is not the only one with big biceps, look at Monfils, I would suggest that he has bigger biceps than Rafa, Murray too was flexing his muscles at Wimbledon last year after beating Gasquet. Rafa has said that a lot of the players have big biceps but because they don't wear sleeves shirts no one sees them. In fact, Rafa's left arm is much bigger than his right arm because he trains that arm more because he is trying to make it his strong arm for tennis. Rafa is a totally different build to Roger, because Roger doesn't train as hard as Rafa, and anyway they were born that way. Roger has a higher percentage of body fat? uuuuuuuuuuuum!

This discussion is slowly pointing fingers I'm afraid, just the thing that we all regret Andre may have achieved with his confession. The WADA now tests the players regularly, so the lax situation in 1997 doesn't exist anymore, and no one will get away with what Andre did now.

It's the ATP who has brought tennis into disrepute, and the sooner they come out and exhornorate the current players the better.

carrie..
don't worry,no need to "justify" Rafa's biceps. Cheryl expressed her worry for the current players and we backed her up.so let's not fall into the accusation discussions OURSELVES,about who might be "guilty"...

errr..when I read my post to carrie ,it came to my own mind that I AM a bit more suspicious to ATP now( not interested in that biceps discussion but overall..). I guess the damage in bigger than I had initially thought. geez.

niloofar, who said I was referring to cheryl. The fact that we are discussing Federer's and Nadal's weight and physique, talking about steroids and excusing them from ever indulging is proof that this whole sorry affair is going to rub off on the top players, the fact that Chery is making in her blog.

I just found it funny that Cheryl thinks Roger has body fat, let alone more than Rafa! Where does he hide it?

Suspicion is insidious that way. It creeps into all the cracks and crevices and spreads doubt. Thanks a lot, Andre.

Carrie, I didn't say Roger was fat. LOL. What I said was that he has a higher body fat percentage than Rafa. Their weight is similar, their height is the same...but Rafa looks twice as big. And its because Roger doesn't have a muscular build. He's...softer. Rafa's arms look big partially because his muscles are so well defined.

I think the Fed has thin arms and legs because of a difference in the style of training i.e. Fed doesn't lift weights and Nadal does. Funny that despite this Fed is able to play with a lot more power on serve and groundies due to better natural ability and technique. I think Fed concentrates on cardio. As far as him not training as hard as Nadal, I've never seen Fed look tired in a match, he doesn't take 30-45 seconds to recover before he serves and if Nadal does train harder it's because he needs to in order to make up for the lower level of talent he has. Nadal got to the top on fitness and mental toughness ; he's not as talented as Fed, Del Potro or even Djoker. As far as Murray goes, it's well documented that Great Britain has spent a fortune on getting him better trainers, etc. to make him more fit yet so far it has not resulted in any Slams.

carrie ...I know you were not referring to Cheryl. what I found surprising was that the earlier comments were expressing worry for the current players,but the last comments 'looked' like discussions of which one of these current top players could be a better 'convict', so I just suggested let's not fall into that sort of discussion,and just told you not to worry about it,because I thought that you were. if you wish to discuss it,go on! :)

I dont think using up more energy has got anything to do with talent. Nadal is talented that's why he figured out how to defeat Fed when others failed. It would be silly if you want to match Fed shot for shot to beat him, after all if everything else being equal (ie talent, fitness, skills etc), Fed has a five year advantage over Nadal in terms of experience in playing tennis, Nadal will never beat Fed playing the same way as Fed, unless Fed is physically on the decline. Just look at players like Haas, Blake, Ljubicic, Davy for eg, non can beat Fed, playing the way they played. Nadal has proven that he can beat Fed on all three surfaces - clay, grass and hard. Even though now Murray and Djoko also figure out how to beat Fed, they cant beat him on all surfaces like Nadal does. I dont see why they are more talented than Nadal, given that they also have to do lots of running after Fed's shots and Nadal is still having very good H2H against all his major rivals - Fed, Murray, Djoko and Del Potro. Running alone cant help you beat your major rivals, if not Simon and Monfils will be right up there in the top four!

nadal has lower level of talent but can work hard enough to be at 13-7 advantage, as luckystar says, on all surfaces/slams.
fed is naturally talented yet can't do anything about it against a natural right hander playing with his left hand with a lower level of talent.
i wonder what that says about fed, insulted by his own fan!

Whilst not wanting to start an argument, I think you'll all agree that Federer does sweat when he is playing Nadal.

federer works just as hard as any of the other top athletes on the circuit....he would have to, to remain... at the top for so long.....just go check out his training schedule with his coach....it is really awesome....you'll find it on bleacher....will try and get the link and post it later.....i think cheryl was referring to BMI rather than calling federer 'fat'! the very idea!.....

^^^ what Malty said.

What I find most shocking is that apparently his hair was fake! It was a bloody toupet... The world has gone crazy....

what a revelation federer fans!

roger sweats when he is playing rafa!...........guess what?.........rafa sweats when he plays roger! just watched the cincinnati masters again...i counted the sweat drops pouring down rafa's face....
laughed my socks off...thanks for that......

here is one of the articles from bleacher of federer's training...and he does use weights.....of course.....

Does anything bother roger federer? The young Swiss is unflappable on the court, unfazed by his No. 1 ranking, and he even gets a kick out of his fitness work. "I'm not thinking about anything when I work out", Federer says. "I just see the light at the end of the tunnel. When you're with good friends, training can also be a lot of fun." In fact, the smooth-stroking Federer has found that the more work he does off the court, the easier he can make the game look on it. While he's hardly a muscleman, he spends plenty of time in the gym. "I like lifting weights?but tennis players do a lot of different kinds of exercises- gym, muscle training, sprints; footwork, coordination. I like to mix it up."

As the biggest target on the men's tour, Federer needs any edge he can get. And when it comes to the nuts and bolts of training, he likes to have as much information as possible. "I just need to understand why I'm doing the work I have to do on court and in the gym," he says. "Once I understand, training isn't really a problem for me. You can't have a bigger motivation to play well than I do already." I want to maintain No. 1, win Wimbledon again, and play well at the Olympics. I have a lot of goals left in my career."
The current fury on the ATP tour over dietary supplements and trace readings of steroids seems to have passed the clean-living Federer. Because he plays so many matches, he has become the most tested man in the sport, having undergone more than 20 drug screenings in the last year. Still, he seems less concerned about the controversy than most of his colleagues. "I'm not scared, I know that I'm 200-percent fit," Federer says. "I'm just trying to do the best I can for my game."
Like most of the top players, Federer and his team, which includes traveling fitness trainer Pierre Paganini and Basel-based physiotherapist Pavel Kovac, keep the workouts light over the course of a tournament week, while bearing down at home in Basel. "When I'm at home, I'll play on court and work out for about four hours every day." Federer says. "At a tournament, it's much less. There, I just need to make sure that I'm 100 percent for every match that I play."
As far as his training meals go, Federer is careful about what he eats while he's on the road, but he loosens up a bit off it. "I try to make sure I eat correctly. But when I'm in Switzerland, I don't watch it so much. I want to give myself a treat occasionally." At right are two exercises from Federer's routine that will help you with your balance and overall strength.
LATERAL LUNGES WITH TWIST
MEDICINE BALL TOSS

the full article is on bleacher.......

WADA chief wants ATP to explain Agassi drug case

By STEPHEN WILSON, AP Sports Writer Oct 28, 11:50 am EDT


LONDON (AP)?The president of the World Anti-Doping Agency wants tennis authorities to shed light on Andre Agassi?s admission that he used a banned drug and escaped a suspension by blaming his positive test on a spiked drink.

WADA leader John Fahey said Wednesday he was disappointed by the revelations in Agassi?s upcoming autobiography that he used crystal methamphetamine in 1997 and lied to ATP tour officials to avoid a ban.

Fahey said WADA?which was founded in 1999?can?t take any action against Agassi because of the agency?s eight-year statute of limitations, and that it?s ?unlikely? the ATP will either.

?WADA would, however, expect the ATP, which administered its own anti-doping program at that time, to shed light on this allegation,? Fahey said in a statement.
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Agassi, an eight-time Grand Slam champion, writes in his autobiography ?Open? that he was introduced to crystal meth by his assistant ?Slim? at a time when his form was fading and he was having doubts about his impending marriage to actress Brooke Shields.

In excerpts from the book published in The Times of London, Agassi said he was informed by the ATP later that year that he had tested positive for the drug and could face a three-month ban for use of a recreational substance. He said he sent a letter to the ATP tour claiming he accidentally drank from a soda spiked with meth by ?Slim? and asking for leniency.

Agassi said the ATP reviewed the case, accepted his explanation and threw it out. The ATP said Wednesday that an independent panel makes the final decision on a doping violation.

?The ATP has always followed this rule, and no executive at the ATP has therefore had the authority or ability to decide the outcome of an anti-doping matter,? the statement said.

Agassi, who married tennis star Steffi Graf eight years ago and has two children, retired in 2006.

?We would hope that Andre Agassi might now see his way to be a role model and alert youth and tennis players to the dangers of drug use and doping,? Fahey said.

Fahey said the case shows the importance of having a monitoring body like WADA in place to review and follow up on positive cases.

?This ensures that no doping case is swept under the carpet,? Fahey said. ?The anti-doping system under the World Anti-Doping Code now ensures that a hearing by an independent tribunal occurs and excuses cannot be acted upon outside of such transparency.?

Methamphetamine is classified as a stimulant under WADA?s list of banned substances. Although tennis rules at the time might have warranted a three-month ban, WADA?s current guidelines on methamphetamine provide for a sanction of up to two years if an athlete cannot prove mitigating circumstances.

WADA director general David Howman said there was no chance of retroactive sanctions against Agassi.

?We?re stuck by our eight-year limitation rule, so we can?t do anything,? he told The Associated Press in Paris. ?It will rest with ATP or perhaps ITF depending on how they?ve organized they?re jurisdictional things. But 12 years back you start to say, ?For what, anti-doping?? It?s a no-go because of the statute of limitations.?

?I mean, at the end of the day, he?s confessed,? Howman added. ?He obviously hasn?t been able to sleep in bed straight and he?s come out and made a confession and you have to applaud that to a degree.?

AP Sports Writer Jerome Pugmire in Paris contributed to this report.

luckystar,

I was going to come on here and comment about this whole idea that Rafa has to work harder because he is less talented. But you have done the job for me. I commend you for writing one of the more thoughtful, knowledgeable posts about Rafa's game and how he has managed to accomplish as much as he has at the still very young age of 23. You made the case so well!

Many thanks!

The suggestion that Nadal is not talented is utterly laughable. Not talented compared to what? Or whom? Ask Roger Federer is Nadal is talented. See what he says. He might not be a "gifted" tennis player in the sense of having a supremely classic game, but he is amazingly talented.

I love how these conversations get so far off track. LOL. Carry on.

Rafa plays a different style of tennis to Roger, and he is not the first to play from the back of the court. McEnroe played a very different style to Borg, who played more like Rafa and Federer more like McEnroe, but I never heard anyone say that Borg wasn't talented. Tennis talent is not only if you play a particular brand of tennis.

Someone suggested that Roger doesn't sweat when he plays because he is so talented, (some of the posts seem to have disappeared form this thread) that's why I pointed out that Roger does sweat when he plays Rafa, because Rafa forces him to play his game. If one was talented and the other wasn't, it's the 'less talented ' one who will be forced to play against his natural instinct.

I don't think anybody said Nadal was not talented. I maintain that he is less talented than Fed, Del Potro and Djoker as a tennis player. Some guys don't live up to their potential/talent i.e. see Marat Safin. Nadal has far exceeded the limits of his talent. Don't mistake athleticism for talent. Nadal is one of the greatest athletes in the history of sports and his drive, mental toughness and amazing fitness got him to the top of the tennis world, not his talent. We are seeing that if anything slows his intense training routine he can't beat any of the top players because he can't rely on his talent to get by. He won most of those matches in the past because he out-lasted his opponents mentally and physically, not with his talent. He has to work harder than everybody to have a chance. That's why he has a lot of fans who pull for the underdog.

chr18,

I could not disagree more with your assessment. Rafa does have an enormous amount of natural talent to make the shots that he does, hit with the kind of topspin he does, play the kind of game he does. To think that this is all the result of brute force is to miss his greatness entirely. Rafa is more than just a naturally gifted athlete. But because you can see the effort and the work, then for some reason his natural talent gets lost in the mix. To think that he beat Fed just by outlasting him defies all logic and reason. He challenged Fed in a way that no one else was able to even get close to achieving. He took him out of his comfort zone. Power and strength alone will never do that. To beat a great champion like Fed is no easy task. Rafa was able to outthink him on the court. He is incredibly intelligent about the game and more than capable of changing his tactics and strategy in mid match.

The idea that Rafa just pounded away and bludgeoned that ball until his opponent gave up, does not stand up to scrutiny. That is not how he beat Fed. He attacked Fed's weaknesses and took him out of his game. That takes a great deal of talent.

I don't think we are ever going to achieve any kind of consensus on this issue. Rafa will continue to be demeaned as just a defensive moonballer who waits for his opponents to make a mistake. Some will never give him his due. That is their loss. To miss out on the essence of such a talented and athletically player, is truly a shame.

Oh well, it's a difference of opinion then. You're entitled to your opinion as I am to mine. We'll just agree to disagree then.

The suggestion that Nadal is not talented is utterly laughable. Not talented compared to what? Or whom? Ask Roger Federer is Nadal is talented. See what he says. He might not be a "gifted" tennis player in the sense of having a supremely classic game, but he is amazingly talented.
cherylmurray , 10/30/09 10:42 PM

morning cheryl.....you souhd angry.....
are you complimenting roger??? (a rarity no less)...that he has a 'supremely gifted game?....i had to read your comment twice!!!

your such a rafa fangirl cheryl!!!!!

chr18, how do you measure talent in tennis? How can a player who is not talented regularly beat the so-called most talented?

You expect Rafa to come back from injury and go straight back to form straight away. He even suffered the consequences of playing too hard by injuring his stomach muscles which he hadn't used for more than two months.

Give the guy a break. What does he have to do to impress some of you?

High Cheryl.
Thanks for the blogg.
I remember my first gut feeling when I heard of Agassi's admission to taking the crystal methamphetamine was surprise & disgust. Surprised that he fessed up now when it couldn't possibly have an impact on him but to the current top seeded players. Disgusted that a man that many admired & followed including me, is revealing this now & probably as suggested to make more money from his book sales.

I'm devestated for all the other players who were robbed of their chances because the ATP swept it under the carpet & didn't investigate & suspend him. How many other tournaments did he play under the influence. Remember he has already lied once. My only concern now is that WADA may take a more agressive approach to testing by invading players lives more vigerously, thus taking any rights to privacy away. Andre Agassi for whatever reason he has chosen to reveal this has just put a much heavier burden on the current & future players on tour. I have lost all respect for him. I feel cheated!!!!

Some of you could be politicians because you twist statements to fit your own agendas. Once again I NEVER said Nadal was "not talented". I said he was less talented than the likes of Fed, Del Potro and Djoker. By the way, I am impressed that Nadal has been able to win 6 Slams by age 23 on the strength of his determination, fitness and mental toughness (theses attributes contributed far more to his success than his talent for playing tennis).

chr18, Less talented that Federer, Djokovic and Delpo? Results don't lie!!! 13:7 for a start.


VAMOS RAFA!

Less talented than Delpot???? I'm choking on my cornflakes..

Ok carrie, I get it, you're Nadal's #1 fan and you can go on and on about this until the end of time because you don't know how to quit whether you feel you're right or wrong. You will always blindly defend Nadal in every situation. As for me, I've put out my opinion and I stand by it. Unlike you, I know when to stop so this will be my last post on this board. Cheers!

Cheers chr18, you know when you're beaten!

reeelaaaax carrie...stop reading things... into posts that are not there....and stop going into the whole argument about the h2h...its sooooo tiiiiresome....you coming up with the same derge...do you want to go into the whole argument again about most of rafas wins being on clay?....about rogers 6-4 over rafa on hard and grass?......boring....boring....boring.....yawning...choking on cornflakes (like it decue)......yawning.....chr18 explained themselves and just because he has a different view to you doesnt mean he's beaten......and stop making excuses for his injuries all the time.....rafa is a grown man...and believe it or not...can actually make decisions for himself now that he is out of diapers.....honestly....sometimes....you treat him like a kid....

seda , 10/31/09 12:20 PM - your post above...why be devastasted? it seems that people are just not getting it. if agassi had said....yep...i took crystal meth...it would have been a ban for 3 months...
taking it had n-o-e-f-f-e-c-t on his performance in terms of enhancing his tennis.....if anything...he would have been more in a stupor.....a frenzy.....like he was when he became OCD about cleaning everything in his flat....you should consider....the fact that he came back from his depths of despair...(without the meth)...got himself together...and went on to win 5 more slams.....(without the meth...R-E-P-E-A-T.....WITHOUT THE METH.....isnt that what is taught at AA, drugs anonymos...rehab....that you fess up and own up to your own insecurities and misdemeanours and move on.....?????honestly....why dont people have a bit of pity for the guy......

and as for lying...that was the thing that he did wrong....granted...but you cannot blame the ATP for not believing him....at that time...his letter was authentic to them....it is up to agassi now...to talk with the ATP....about his misdemeanour.....am sure he will....but thats between them......

Yes, Malteser. I DID compliment both men. I think they are both exceedingly talented players. Clearly that makes me a fangirl. LOL.

I don't know if Andre intends to patch things up with the ATP. It seems to me that a man who repeats over and over again how much he hates tennis is not likely to be eager to fix any damange that he's done. Just my opinion, of course.

okay cheryl...i picked it up...read between the lines.....i know that you are a secret roger fan....(*wink*)but i accept that you are head cheer leader for rafa...just a request...when the AO swings by.....some complimentary articles about federer.....but even more important than that....less biaised journalism....you know what i am saying, girl?.....its the first rule of journalism...right?.....N-O-B-I-A-S!

have read the agassi confessions in The Times for the last two days....his hate for tennis cheryl, was the 'lesser of two evils....'...believe him on that one...there was one day when he had to hit so many balls back to the ball machine.....that if he didnt his father would have spuuuued his anger for days.....a tyrannical reign in the household since he was a child?....c'mon!....he would enter his own son into competitions from 12, and gamble with the other guy that his son would win...i am surprised agassi isnt in a loony bin......his father was very heavyhanded with him...and considering his father carried an axe in his car e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e.....you can understand that agassi did not want to cross him....-e-v-e-r-...he was a scary parent......heerrreeee's.....johnny...!!!!! with the weight lifted from his shoulders, agassi will be feeling relieved......but he is not stupid... enough to realise that what he has done will invite the less forgiving people out there......that is the next stage of his redemption journey.....

Oh my god! Some people REALLY need to grow up! Busy pointing the finger at everyone else yet writing ridiculously longs posts and getting all hot and bothered.

oh my jean...glad to see you are back..but was hoping for a really innovative and interesting post from you.....you have a choice my friend...dont read my long posts...am actually feeling fairly chilled today thanks.....how are you?

Malteser, be careful what you accuse me of. Blogging is not journalism. Surely you realize that saying "Rafa's shorts look like crap" is not journalism, but an opinion piece. If you want lack of bias, stick with our match articles. I promise you, you'll get only the facts. Hope this helps.

If you don't believe me, read ESPN some day. One of their staff writers has a blog every week that he literally titles "(football)Players I love and hate this week"

jean....i admire the fact that you like to support carrie's comments......but also....if i disagree with her comments...which i do most of the time.....and then she feels that she has to have a go at chr18 who has explained what they meant....then really...its up to me to either agree with chr18 or not....i think you are the one who gets hot and bothered by my comments.....i dont mean to irritate you jean....but obviously i do....so i have to accept that....i think i can live with that....but dont just come on here having a bash at me because i support federer fans or disagree with carrie..otherwise...i'll feel like you are after me.....every time i come on..and i might get a bit scared when i see your name.........you dont get me jean....you dont get my humour....or my sarcasm....you just take me literally and seriously all the time.....your choice.....may be one day we'll get back on track...but then again....may be that's wishful thinking....i point the finger no more than you do at me....so i think we are pretty equal there.....

what do you do for a living cheryl?...in other words...what is your 'day' job?.....i think you mentioned you are a canadian?

jean....just looked out the window...its a full moon tonight!!!!!

This IS my day job. LOL. I'm one of THOSE people. :) I AM a journalist, yes. Meaning that I write tennis news in the "reports" section of tennistalk. But I am also a blogger. Blogging by its very nature cannot be unbiased. Essentially, I'm paid to tell people my opinion or feelings about things (i.e. not journalism), so they can inform me of how much of an idiot I am. Just one of the job perks....

why would someone read a "blog" if they did not want to hear the writer's opinion?

this is most confusing. please explain, malteser.

ricky....you are reading too much into the conversation cheryl and i were having earlier....seriously.....cheryl has said that she is a rafa fan.....and i said to her to be a little less biased when it comes to talking about the fed......and also you are a rafa fan.....and sometimes you both come across as very much 'yo..yo..rafa'.....and not enough fed.....a few of the fed fans have said this in earlier posts.....on other threads......
cheryl was explaining blogger/journalist.....i mentioned to her that the first rule of journalism is to present info which is unbiased....one moment she is a blogger...the next she is a journo.....if you are a blogger of course....opinion rules....

your confusing me now ricky.....opinion is opinion.....we agree on that....

cheryl...who is your employer? who 'owns' TT? and how did you get the job? did you create the website with ricky/johan and Kelli?...(I'm nosy..yeah).

cheryl..... you say..journalism.....(paid to tell people my opinion or feelings about things....and then you go on to say (i.e. not journalism)...i think we are not understanding each other here.....journalism...IS based on fact AND opinion...reported speech....journalism doesnt just deal in facts.....i think thats where we are getting confused.....

Cheryl, that was a great piece. To me the bottom line is exactly what you said. When an Idol falls, he brings a great deal down with him.
Agassi was my favorite player for the longest time. I always cheered for him to win over Pete... not sure why... Then once in a while I would see him fly off the handle at line judges and umpires and just chuck it to the emotion of the game. Yet today, we have two shining examples at the top of the sport. In my heart and mind Roger and Rafa have already surpassed Pete and Andre in all counts. Roger one day made a decision to rein in his temper and thus was began a career without parallel in sports history. Rafa started humble and wise beyond his years and remained so due to his upbringing. They feel the passion just as much as anyone, not to mention the pressure, and the injuries, and now the injustice of how in the past the star was given special treatment, while today they are the targets of suspicion. Yet they rise above it all.
I feel confident that both men will remain exemplary. But Andre's idol status has been eroded, and one can't help but wonder just a bit who will disappoint us next. Like you wrote, some things are better kept unsaid.
Cheers.

Or, Cheryl Murray, they can inform you of your unrivaled awesomeness. Great blog, I enjoy reading it all the time. I don't post very often unless I actually have something to say. I arrived late to your latest, but I can see that you (and Rafa) pretty much covered everything I had to say on the topic. I scanned through the comments section to read your comments and Ricky's. Other posters made some very good points as well. So, surprisingly, I don't have much to add.

Just one suggestion though, you are a bit of a softy when it comes to the actual 'Moderating' part of blogging. It's a shame when relevant and thoughtful comments get buried in comments that aren't. So maybe you'd consider putting your foot down and deleting posts that aren't on topic, for example? Or hire someone to do it for you if you don't have the time (no kidding). Just a suggestion to help keep the intelligent conversation flowing with a positive rhythm. After all, you write an awesome blog and nothing's worse than a good blog being bogged down.

As for you RickyDimon, you AND your name rock (don't think I forgot about your role as Simon Cowell. You have a way of plainly and simply stating the obvious. Very refreshing. Though, Rafa ROCKED his rendition of 'La Bamba'. So there.)

Kelli, I didn't forget about you either. Although it feels like "long time, no write." *pouts*

Good thing we have Cheryl and Ricky doing their thing. Keep it up you two! :))
I just might take a leaf out of your books.

MiniArbre and grafight - thank you for your kindness. We bloggers appreciate compliments once in a while too. :P

malteser - a journalist reporting the news is absolutely NOT supposed to allow personal opinion to shade their work. When you find an opinon piece in a publication, it's called an editorial, not news. But, that's all I will be saying about that, because as MiniArbre points out - we're derailing the conversation.

I can like Roger and Rafa, blog about them, be enraptured with their games and rivalry - and still manage to keep my news articles about them neutral. It goes with the territory. And now that we've all had a little lesson in journalism101.... :)

"MiniArbre and grafight - thank you for your kindness. We bloggers appreciate compliments once in a while too. :P"

You had it coming. :P

******

I was browsing the net and I came across an article that said that Andre confessed to using Meth "for a year or so".

Now, unless the ATP only tested once a year, doesn't this mean that his test results came back positive more than just once? Surely the "I drank spiked coke" excuse wouldn't work more than once (heck, it doesn't work the first time!)

And if that's the case, that means that the ATP covered for him many times. Over and over. This whole situation is despicable.

I also found out that the penalty for using recreational drugs back in the day was a three months suspension. That has changed since then, it is now a 2 YEAR suspension.

Not necessarily, MiniArbre. Andre was ranked 141 at the time. he was hardly playing in any ATP tournaments. It's really quite possible that he was only caught once.

Yes. he would have received a 3 month ban. Basically nothing, considering how seldom he played. I think he was concerned about his reputation more than anything.

cheryl and ricky,

I do think it's overdue to let you know how much I appreciate both your unbiased journalistic articles AND your opinionated blogs. You have given us much food for thought and created an environment of lively, thoughtful discussion. This is all to the good. I think you know when you've written something worthwhile, because it encourages us to reason, analyze, form our own opinions and then join in what is hopefully a respectful discussion. No always, but most of the time!

grafight,

My compliments on a great post! I am in complete and total agreement with you.

Finally, I just wanted to say that I do not think that an abusive childhood is, in and of itself, an excuse or rationalization for bad behavior in adulthood. It's easy to whine about a bad childhood, ask why me, blame everything on one's parents and then go about wrecking your own life. While I have compassion and empathy for the abuse Agassi suffered at the hands of his father, I also do not think that is any excuse for his use of crystal meth, and then lying about it to avoid a suspension from tennis. There are many inspiring stories of people who have managed to survive horrific experiences in childhood and have a productive, happy, fulfilled life.

I will hold Agassi responsible for his own actions. He had other choices, but made the decision to ingest crystal meth. Then he compounded it by fabricating a lie to mitigate what he did. He succeeded in avoiding being suspended, because the ATP either allowed themselves to be duped or just didn't want to have a huge scandal.

I have given Agassi full credit for turning his life around. He has done a lot of good things. But I will always believe that this belated attempt to either exorcise his own guilt at escaping punishment, ease his conscience or have a very public confessional, was a grave error in judgment. He has accomplished nothing constructive, only succeeded in creating even more suspicion about how many tennis players have escaped similiar punishment for their misdeeds in the past and cast a cloud of suspicion over the current stars of the game. He has also publicly embarrassed and humiliated the very people who helped him when he needed it.

I am afraid that this unfortunate revelation will only serve to tarnish his image as one of the legendary tennis players.

Nativenewyorker, thank you very much for the kind words.

And that was a brilliant post. I agree completely on all counts. He has bitten the hand that fed him. And as for not being constructive - I would even go one further and say that it was downright destructive. Even here, at tennistalk, posters are guessing at the identities of players who may or may not have been doping.

As I said before, I do not understand what purpose this can serve. nothing good for him, nothing good for the sport. Maybe he'll make a few bucks....

i must add mine too. i agree with everything miniarbre posted @12:37 AM. and also point out that cheryl has a lot of patience. i mean A LOT! :)

native, i don't think people are using agassi's difficult childhood as an EXCUSE for his behaviour, rather a (possible) REASON for it. not everyone can go through a low point rationalizing everything and behaving in an examplary manner. i'm sure agassi isn't gloating about his childhood and admittance and now the world knows. but i agree with cheryl and rafa that it casts a shadow of doubt over the sport. so now instead of hurling the remaing stones at andre (not that you're doing it :), the tennis world should deal with the revelation and consequences, i.e. atp should step forward and make a statement explaining several things (i.e. atp tested then, it's wada now; we regret no inquiry was made, it's not performance enhacing but still a banned substance, rules are stricter now and an indipendent body does the testing since 2006 so people needn't doubt rafa/roger, etc, etc). i expect they ARE looking into it but i would think a statement from them yesterday would be a good thing. nip it in the bud so we can move on. or perhaps we need a grand slam to start now so everyone will focus on that and forget about andre!!!

homos,

You make some excellent points. I don't mean to condemn Agassi out of hand, but merely to put his actions in some kind of perspective. He did have other options, such as seeking counseling. It is a terrible thing to grow up with this kind of abuse, but there is a lot of help out there. Agassi did realize that this was not the solution and got his act together. He has my respect for that.

Regarding your suggestion about a possible statement from the ATP, if this would put an end to the speculation and suspicions about the behind the scenes goings on in the sport of tennis, then that would be a good step. I don't know what they can say at this point. As I mentioned in my previous post, we don't know if they chose to believe what Agassi told them, or thought there was something more to it, but didn't want to address it. I do know that they gave him a chance to remain in the sport.

I have also been reflecting on Fed and Rafa. I believe that they will handle this situation with the same class, grace and integrity which they have always displayed. It's not easy to be a the top in the tennis world. I guess the truth is that they will always be under a microscope. Their actions and behavior with be scrutinized, no matter what. This might have created a somewhat more difficult situation for them and a needless distraction in the short run, but I join with you in hoping that the focus will return once more to the tennis. I think Fed and Rafa will represent the sport in the exemplary manner that they have in the past.

Thanks for your thoughts.

BTW - cheryl, you are more than welcome. It was remiss of me not to say it much sooner.

native, appreciate your posts and responses. isn't it wonderful when discussions can go smoothly :)
i can't seem to help myself and feel for the players, well, some of them anway. people like me play sports for fun, watch on it tv and indulge in armchair criticism but when i watch elite sports at this level and things like this come out, i can't help but feel a bit sad over the stone throwing. i can't even phathom what the elite level must be like. maybe i'm just not clear about andre's reasons. i agree he had other options, you always do. of course if andre were to come forward now and say "actually guys, i couldn't care less about the sport back than and don't care about it now, even if it goes into disrepute", than i'd hurl the biggest boulder i could carry - at him!! :P

re. an atp statement, my thought is that if they came forward and said something, anything, it might help most of us to go "ok well, i guess we can't expect anymore from them NOW and it's in wada's hands" and focus back on the sport and the great things about it, which are many as i'm certain youd agree.

MiniArbre: no, no, no, that's censorship. The brilliant thing about the internet is that people are free, without censorship, except in totalitarian regimes, to say what they like. Of course this can be immensely irritating at times but that's a very small price to pay.

Maybe he'll make a few bucks.... - cherylmurray , 11/1/09 3:40 AM

so he should!!! he and steffi are so cash strapped they need all the help they can get!!!

I can like Roger and Rafa, blog about them, be enraptured with their games and rivalry - and still manage to keep my news articles about them neutral.
cherylmurray , 11/1/09 1:37 AM

cheryl, its good to know that you say above you like to keep things neutral...(its not always the case!)......personal opinion can , and does, easily shade someone's work...depending on which side of the fence they sit...i know it shouldnt, but it does...read the tennis articles out there...bias abound....(like you said.....referring to some ESPN articles online...)....AND this IS related to tennis...and this IS relevant....and believe it or not...these threads started off with agassi...and then somehow always twist and turn towards other players....so no one can deny that...

and miniarbre ricky asked me to explain which is what i did...

homos...i liked your posts and i agree with your response to native, who i think is being extremely harsh on agassi....you cannot make rational decisions when you are irrational...and i cannot say that i know of anyone...in my life... or friends' lives... that carry guns e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e......you would be living on a knife-edge pretty much the whole time....

i'll be honest cheryl....i like reading some of your articles/blogs....but if i disagree with some of the things you say.....dont take it personally......a diversity of opinion is healthy...no?

from the times online:

Andre Agassi ?took speed? before match

AS WELL as taking crystal meth, Andre Agassi took amphetamine, his new autobiography reveals, according to reports last night. The drug was said to have been given to him by his autocratic and hugely driven father Mike Agassi. Andre confesses to taking the pills before a tournament despite warnings from his older brother Phillip that he should not swallow then when they were offered by their father.

The disclosure will further tarnish Agassi?s image, especially as the speed was taken as a performance-enhancing drug before playing in the US national tournament in Chicago.

Agassi writes: ?One night, Philly asked me to promise him something, ?Don?t ever let Paps give you any pills to take?.

?Pills??

?He always gives me Excedrin, Philly. He gives me Excedrin before every match because there?s a load of caffeine in each one?.

?Yeah, I know. But the pills I?m talking about are something else. They are really tiny, white and round. Don?t swallow them, no matter what happens?.

?Okay, but what kind of pills are they, Philly??

?Speed?.?

Agassi continues: ?As predicted by Philly, my father gives me a pill at the national tournament in Chicago. ?Hold out your hand?, he said. ?This will help you. Swallow it?. He puts a pill in my hand. Tiny. White. Round. I swallow it and I feel good. Not much different. A bit more alert?.?

Agassi?s autobiography Open, which is a candid account of his life on and off the tennis court, is being published this month but extracts from it have already been printed around the world. The story of him taking the tiny white pills before a tournament in Chicago was published in the German newspaper Bild last week. It is sure to lead to further calls for punishment, though as Agassi retired in 2006 the range of penalties the authorities can hand out is limited.

from the guardian


Andre Agassi facing 'perjury' case over drug claims

The tennis authorities are have been asked to investigate "the possibility of perjury" or a "breach of the law" by Andre Agassi following the former Wimbledon champion's admission that he lied in a letter to the ATP after he tested positive for crystal meth in 1997.

David Howman, the director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency, is to write to the ATP and the ITF because he believes "this is not a dead issue".

The move comes after more damaging revelations emerged last night in which Agassi declares that his father, Mike, asked him to take the illegal amphetamine, speed, before playing and that he took it.

In an extract from his autobiography Open, Agassi says that his brother, Phil, warned him that the pills their father was giving the player were not simply caffeine, but speed.

"One night, Phil asked me to promise him something: 'Don't ever let Paps give you any pills to take'," writes Agassi of his brother's advice in an extract of the book which is being serialised in the German newspaper Bild.

"The pills are something else...speed. They are really tiny, white and round. Don't swallow them, no matter what happens. "

Agassi, however, still took the tablets handed to him by his father before a national tournament in Chicago. "This will help you. Swallow it. He puts the pill in my hand. Tiny, white, Round. I swallow it and I feel good. Not much different. A bit more alert."

Agassi writes that his father was giving him caffeine pills before every match to boost his performances.

The player says he had believed that he was taking Excedrin, a pill high in caffeine. Above normal levels of caffeine were on Wada's banned list until 2004 and the drug remains on the agency's monitoring list.

"We take it extremely seriously if anyone has taken anything on the banned list of drugs, whether it is believed to be performance-enhancing or not," Howman told the Sunday Telegraph.

Last week's admission by Agassi that he took crystal meth and then deceived the authorities by declaring that he had fallen prey to "spiked soda" will not be allowed to rest by Wada.

The agency has an eight-year statute of limitations and cannot punish the player now he has retired, but Howman is demanding that the ATP and ITF take action. He wants the governing bodies to investigate whether he "lied on oath" after he failed the drugs test in 1997.

"Wada's position is simple," said Howman. "The tennis authorities should investigate a possible breach of the law by Agassi, if he lied on oath about this, and also a possible breach of the law by his lawyers. If his lawyers knew at the time he was lying, then that is extremely serious.

"There are limitations over what he can do, but we don't believe this is a dead issue. We believe the authorities should be investigating the possibility of perjury."

Wada are due to send out letters to the authorities this week.

The question that most of all comes to my mind about this sad situation is how the ATP appear to dismiss the welfare of the players...preferring to sweep under the proverbial carpet anything...inc damaging tournament schedules/comittments for what obviously isn't for the "good" of the players or the game. Maybe andre' could have received more support at the time for what he was going through if they truely understood his situation..coming out with this( his drug abuse + ATP/WADA dismissal/collusion of it) now makes no real sense accept to sensationalise + act as a marketing /publicity ploy...I feel for those who will reap the fall out of all of this...Those who are the games top ambassador's...May they stay strong and continue to rise above it all. And as for the ATP...PLEASE put your players health and well being above money or power/career issues. Without your players you would have nothing.

To The ATP...please stop treating your players like they are machines!! Treat them like the human's they are ...how many top athlete's have had to retire due to injury this season? Are your priorities $$$$$ or players? I love watching tennis bur I'd love it even more if i had to watch less tournaments knowing the players were being properly looked after and respected...

Sorry to divert from the original theme of this post once again. In response to Ch18 's post concerning Rafa, Rafa is less talented than Del Potro?? Well this is solely his/her opinion and I'm not here to criticise him/her. I'm just curious as to what basis he/she has to determine a person's talent. Just because Rafa is not back to his usual self and got beaten so he is less talented than some player? What about his victory at AO 09, so the victory there is because he runs and runs and he being mentally tough?? Any evident to support that - that his victory is not due to talent but by mere mental toughness?? Can I also say that Fed's victory at FO this year is also due to his mental toughness and fitness, that he outlasted Del Potro, and stayed mentally tough during the match with Haas to finally win the match?? Also Fed almost got knocked out by Berdych at the AO this year, but he merely outlasted Berdych when going the distance into a 5th set, so is that mental toughness or his fitness that win him the match?? Any talent in question in that match??

What about Del Potro? Dont he win the USO partly because he is mentally tough? When he was down in the 2nd set, he fought back in the tie-break, lost the third set and fight back again in the 4th set tie-break? Del Potro certainly has talent, but to say that he is more talented than Rafa, and there is no conclusive proof to prove that, well that just shows that it is merely someone's own opinion and speculation and his/her own make belief.

I love watching tennis bur I'd love it even more if i had to watch less tournaments knowing the players were being properly looked after and respected...
rafanna , 11/1/09 11:22 AM

not just that but we'd get better quality performance at year end tournies without so many retirements and withdrawals. i'd hate to be a punter in countries waiting for tournies in oct & nov, having paid for tickets and watching the players 'drop like flies'.

luckstar! of course rafa is talented!

homos....i read your article above.....it is very scary indeed.....the one thing i would say though is that Excedrin is N-O-T a pill that is high in caffeine....it has a max of 65mg...which is the same as taking a 'paracetamol extra' and is used for migraines...i take them as occasionally get migraines....(too much reading!)....here is the lowdown on Excedrin.....

What is Excedrin?

Excedrin contains a combination of acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine. Acetaminophen is a pain reliever and a fever reducer. Aspirin is in a group of drugs called salicylates (sa-LIS-il-ates). It works by reducing substances in the body that cause pain, fever, and inflammation. Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant. It relaxes muscle contractions in blood vessels to improve blood flow.

Excedrin is used to treat pain caused by tension headaches, migraine headaches, muscle aches, menstrual cramps, arthritis, toothaches, the common cold, or nasal congestion.

This Rafael Nadal Is Better Than Roger Federer...Period.
By Theresa Seem


Contributor Written on February 10, 2009


Much has been made over the last several days about Federer's loss to Nadal in the Final of the Australian Open 2009.

The sports punditry all appear to be either amazed Federer lost or amazed Nadal won, particularly given that Federer was attempting to win his 14th Grand Slam and that Nadal was trying to come back from an exhausting five hour and 14 minute semifinal against his compatriot, Fernando Verdasco.

How was this possible? Is this the changing of the guard at the top of professional tennis? Has the king been dethroned? Can Roger possibly regroup after what appears to be a devastating loss? Can Rafael possibly maintain without injuries his impossible athleticism on the court?

Who knows? Who cares? It's only fun to watch if you aren't certain of the outcome, but in this rivalry with Nadal, the outcomes are beginning to appear pre-ordained. We, the legion of tennis fans and sports pundits will, nonetheless, watch with bated breath each and every one of the magnificent points these champions deem us worthy to observe.

And, indeed, all must admit regardless or race, color, creed, or Nadalian or Federesque leanings, these Goliathan tennis players are "champions", above all else.

Both these champions are exquisite tennis players, and unlike some others who rate Federer's game as superlative because it is effortless and elegant, there is another side to that coin. Nadal's physical skills are just as superlative, but Nadal shows us how much hard work he puts in, whereas Federer makes it look easy.

Because Nadal shows us how hard he's trying, Nadal is somehow less talented than Federer? Not according to the scoreboard. And who among us truly believes Federer doesn?t really work that hard?

Yet, when determining the better tennis player, whether from an actual match, or hypothetically, or even prospectively, one must take into account mental talents as well as physical gifts, and Nadal has these, and much, much more.


But has there been enough dissecting of the Australian Open Final and disseminating of points of view on the state of men?s tennis. Perhaps, but let me posit the reason Nadal has come out on the winning end of these more recent championship matches: Nadal has had, for the past few years, someone to raise his game for, someone against whom he must improve if he wants to win championships.

And, indeed, Nadal wants to win championships, and he has made himself the better player for it.

Unfortunately for Federer, he has not truly had anyone over the past several years against whom he has had to raise his game consistently (save, perhaps, Roddick), against whom he has always had to find a 4th and 5th gear, against whom he must win championships if wants to be unanimously considered the ?greatest ever.?

Well, he certainly does now.

This is not to say that Federer has never found a 4th and 5th gear for his closer tennis matches, or that there are no arguments to consider Federer the ?greatest ever.? I have seen Federer slam the door shut in many, many matches. It is to say Rafael Nadal has had more practice in wanting it.

The question then becomes, "What will Federer do?" Will he find a coach to help him mentally and strategically get past Nadal? Is it too late for Federer to get past Nadal given his age, and Nadal's spectacular (and improving) game?

Who knows? Who cares? No wait...that's not right. I care.

Another commentator seemed to suggest that there is no work to be done on the court for Federer. The commentator did not seem to care whether or not Federer ever beats Nadal in a final again, as Federer?s game will always be the most magnificent.

Are we really to believe it is sufficient to simply hit the ball beautifully and win the vast majority of your matches against your professional tennis contemporaries?except one? Or, at the very least, is it sufficient for Federer?

It cannot be sufficient if Federer wants to be unanimously considered the ?greatest ever.? Perhaps Federer does not concern himself with this title, but Federer revealed with his weeping on Sunday that simply hitting the ball beautifully and winning most of the time does not suffice for him. He is clearly not above weeping openly after a loss in which he was emotionally and physically-vested...but is he above asking for help?

******************************

This is the definitive article on this subject from the Oracle, The Bleacher Report:

For crying out loud. Andre! Shut up already. This goes to prove a point that I've long known to be the truth. Full disclosure is rarely helpful. So, now he DID take performance enhancing drugs (when he was a little kid, I presume?). So much for the argument of "as long as it wasn't performance enhancing...."

Bah.

carrie, why have you posted...yet again...an article that has n-o-t-h-i-n-g to do with the thread? can I remind you of your words....yet again....clearly you say one thing do another? when you said 'I will never..ever..write anything about roger federer again...because i will get an earfull.....'..
we hear you...you dont like federer....we hear you..we hear you...we hear you...you think rafa is more talented than roger...we hear you...
what is your objective with this?..
we all know you are bored with not having seen federer play....

This is the definitive article on this subject from the Oracle, The Bleacher Report:
carrie , 11/1/09 1:00 PM.

Its N-O-T the definitive article carrie...oh my god....we all know that rafa is talented..and newsflash....so is roger.... if you have ever read the hundreds of articles on tennis at bleacher, you will know that and why post an article that is almost a year old? plus....you couldnt care less about federer....so why pretend? you have said... time and time again....so why dont you take cheryl's advice to andre and shut up already....

cheryl, i thought you might enjoy those articles :) well it makes the discussions more interesting, and yes, i'll now drop the 'but..but..he didn't take...'. i can't wait for what else he might reveal. hang on to your seats everyone!!

carrie: enjoyed the article. thanks for posting it, not one i'd read before. i see why, it had to do with a certain someone labelling rafa as having a lower level of talent or that he didn't win matches ON talent...?? ha..ha...gotta laugh :)

I don't know about you malteser, but I'm trying my hardest not to engage with you, but you hardly post anything without mentioning me. What's your problem? Please stay out of my way, because I want a stress free time on TT, and that does not include you.

You felt free to respond to the same subject that you are objecting to me posting on this thread, as you are a not a moderator, it will do you good to mind your own business, instead of poking your nose into every conversation between other people behaving as if you are an arbitrator whose verdict is the only one that counts.

malteser, you are despicable. you are so arrogant enough to think that you can post rude comments to people, point the finger, argue so rudely with anyone who disagrees with you, tell people to shut up - but when others do it to you, you can't stand it. why don't you shut up yourself, that's right, put a freakin' large cork in it kid!!!!! doesn't sound to me like your THAT chilled as you claim to be!!

Cheryl, I also read an article on Yahoo!Sports that said Agassi was "pretty much doing meth periodically for a year". What does that exactly mean? So he was on meth pretty regularly for the year, even after that failed drug test and now infamous letter?

I'll be really curious as to what's REALLY in the entire book - drugs and wigs and all. Couldn't help but think that all these sneak peek tidbits are really doing their job of drumming up MASSIVE publicity.

And by the way, Malteser, most people here are happy to show some respect for the people who run this forum, and not ask impertinent questions about their motives or question their performance as bloggers or journalists. The next thing you'll be demanding to see their pay cheque.

I did not want to voice an opinion on your lack of respect towards Ricky and cheryl because I was trying to avoid you, but since you won't leave me alone, I will take this opportunity to tell you to please not spoil this forum for those of us who enjoy coming here. If you don't like it, you should go somewhere else.

You know Malt.That was kinda fitting below the belt(your comments about them).Ricky and Cheryl have always been neutral(IMO) and nice people with very good opinions and insight.

Thanks for those posts homos, those articles have reinforced my feelings about the whole Agassi book scandal ... when I first heard what he had written my immediate reaction was "what a dumb thing to say". Now it seems that as safe as he thought he might have been, making these confessions well after any consequences would be brought upon him, he could very well be wrong. Again ... Andre what a dumb thing to say.

smr, you're welcome. i thought it was worth posting those 2 articles. there are more if you google but they prety much say the same thing and i didn't want to take up so much space.

actually, when i first heard agassi's book was to be released, i thought "great, i read sampras', now i can read one of his rival's stories'. little did i know.....

hey carrie: did you get your strokes book in the end? if so, have you read it? curious to know what you think, though maybe email might be a better way for us to communicate on this subject *wink* :)

homos, I'm reading Strokes of Genius now, it's quite evenly balanced so I'm enjoying it. Both Federer and Nadal have certainly earned their place in history, and it's to Rafa's credit that he has done it at asuch a young age.

I know what you mean by communicating by email, because free expression tends to wind some people up on here.

Hey homos and carrie ... I'm sure there are many of us who would love to hear your discussions about the book. That's what free discussion means ... don't hide.

Several thoughts: I think Andre needs the limelight, and this definitely does that, even if it's in a negative light. 2nd, if he hates tennis, why in the heck is he playing on the senior tour and WTT? Answer - the limelight. 3rd - this Slim character. Maybe Andre was being blackmailed and this was his way of getting out of that. Conspiracy theories! If not, Andre is a real conundrum.

It could be Andre needs the limelight. But perhaps it's more because he's just grown unbearably sensitive to his own hypocrisies: he knows that folks (most of us, most of the world) who know very little about him respect him as a tennis icon/lover of the game, but he's wondering aloud if - hearing the truth - we'd still feel the same way. Perhaps he's wondering if he still deserves it.

Agassi just decided to beat his long time partner Perry to the draw.Perry knew all of Agassi's skeletons and probably was going to tell and Agassi beat him to it.Just my guest.

You know, alik, you may be on to something. After reading your post, I googled Perry and Agassi and found articles in December 2008 on the former's lawsuit against Steffi back (news to me, though not to others of you more aware of these things). In any case, who knows? Interesting. Here's the link, for those of you who knew as little as I did about the Perry/Agassi relationship:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/14/andre-agass i-lawsuit-rogers-graf

Thanks Dana.Didn't he try to sue Steffi for a lot of money not to long ago.
(lol)Tennis Talk has gone CSI !

Actually, the link I gave you is all about Perry's lawsuit against Steffi. Whether we're going CSI or Sherlock Holmes, the truth must out eventually - LOL!

Great find you guys, if you keep it up, you'll need your own theme song! :D
SO many new posts on Andre, will scroll back up and read them.
********

*grins* Deuce, indeed censorship sucks.

But that's not really what I was suggesting to Cheryl. On blogs, usually the blogger exercises "Moderating". Basically they look through the posts, and if there are any posts that go far off topic, or contain profanity, or personal attacks, they are deleted.

It isn't censorship, it's maintenance. It's a healthy way of keeping the conversation flowing and keeping the environment lively and friendly.

Of course how strict the Moderator is differs from one individual to the next. They may choose to let profanity slide, or things that divert the discussion off topic
.
So let's say I write an article called "Radek Stepanek: Sexiest Man On Tour". And in the comments section a reader disagrees with me and says " I don't think Radek is sexy! I think Christophe Rochus is the sexiest man on tour. He's tall, dark AND handsome!".

Now, if I were to exercise censorship, I'd delete that message because I don't want anyone to disagree with my view. I only want comments that support my "Radek is sexy" stance. THAT'S a no-no.

But if I allowed that comment to be posted, responded to it, and allowed other readers to agree or disagree, then the conversation will flourish and go places.

The kind of comments that can (and should be) deleted, are comments that are called "Baiting". Basically these comments are posted for the sole purpose of angering others (no, Rafanatics, the term "Rogi" doesn't count) and contain personal attacks. They are usually hostile and blatantly hurtful with no truth to them.

A comment like "Well if you think Radek is the sexiest, than maybe you're a drunk" or "Your mom is so fat, she gets called for a foot fault even when she's receiving".

Obviously, there's nothing positive or relevant about those two comments . Though some may say that person has a point, those comments are attacking me personally and they will only result in more comments of the same nature by other readers. Before you know it, most of the readers are too busy personally attacking each other and arguing, that they fail to notice all of my excellent observations on Radek's sexiness that I made in the original blog (the shame!) And those who WANT to stay on topic are drowned out and frustrated. They want to discuss Radek's hotness in peace.

I've been to many blogs and I realize that there are going to be disagreements. When you get people with different backgrounds, styles, personality and points of view, you are GOING to have them. But sometimes it just goes too far. And when it does, it ruins a blog. You'll find that the most peaceful and enjoyable blogs to hang around are those that have some level of moderating, where personal attacks and baiting are not allowed.

That?s where Cheryl and Ricky are both softies and so I thought I'd make a suggestion. Wasn't condoning the act of them going all Gestapo on us. Just a little bit of order that's all.

Toughen up you two!

Now seeing as I'm going off topic.... *sheepish grin*

thanks for the compliments and the lively discussion. Good for the site. Tennis is ALIVE.

MiniArbe - I moderate comments as much as I can. When threads get 1000 pages long like this one, it's hard for me to read everything, though.

Also, out of respect to the posters, I only delete/edit a post that 1) has profanity, or 2) attacks another user personally.

If someone is purposely being an idiot without doing any of the things listed above, then...well...I will let them continue looking like an idiot.

But yes, in general I agree with your comments about moderation.

smr, it's for true fans like yourself that i'd love to have discussions about these books with carrie who looks at issues from interesting angles. unfortunately, and i'm sure you'd agree deep down :), there's no such thing as free discussion here when rafa and fed are involved. besides, this is not the relevant thread, we would have to choose a very old, irrelevant blog about radek's hotness (thanks mini!!) and have a coded discussion there! but thanks for the encouragement.
carrie: glad to hear you're enjoying it!

homos - feel free to have that discussion in either the Zeballos-Stakhovsky match preview or the Zeballos-Stakhovsky match report.

This will be forgotten news soon what celeb has not dabbled in drugs at least he owned up to it am sure there alot of others caring the burden on their shoulders this will not destroy him look at all the work he has done for charity dont see many celebs working as hard as he does he is human after all and at least he got away from it before it really destoyed him.
He did not cheat only himself and dont think his motive is money hes a changed man from his early days and wanted to get it off his chest and thats what he has done so i think people should stop thinking he some sort of god a role model is someone who learns from his mistakes and he has.....

thanks ricky but i fear you are inviting a dangerous discussion :)
i quoted a couple of paragraphs to carrie before and i'd say we pretty much have similar opinions about certain players. i might have to leave it at that - depending on what carrie wants. anyway, she might still be reading the book, thus giving us a good excuse not to discuss it :)

on a related note (he makes some fair points)...

Murray - I won't judge Agassi (from skysports)

Andy Murray claims Andre Agassi's revelations of drug-taking will not taint his opinion of the former world number one.

Murray has made no secret of the fact that Agassi was his boyhood hero, the Scot growing up idolising the American.

But Agassi shocked the tennis world last month when he confessed in his autobiography to taking crystal meth in 1997 and then lying about it to avoid a ban.

While acknowledging Agassi had a made a mistake, Murray insists it will not affect his view of the eight-time Grand Slam winner and went on to add that he feels confident that tennis does not have a widespread problem with drugs.

"I don't think any of the players expected it but you've just got to move on," stated the 22-year-old.

"I loved Andre, met him numerous times. He was unbelievably nice to me. I practised with him quite a lot.

"I guess it's something he has to deal with him himself. He's entitled to say whatever he wants and I wish him the best.

"I judge him as a tennis player; he was great, one of the best of all time. No one wants drugs in sport but everyone makes mistakes.

"I didn't play in those times so I don't know what it was like.

"There are even cases now where guys get off, with failed tests and contaminations - mistakes, like with the (Richard) Gasquet case (where the Frenchman's ban for testing positive for cocaine this season was overturned).

"Sometimes things like that happen. People get away with it sometimes but I don't think drugs in tennis is a big problem like it is in other sports."

i bet sampras must be thinking:

"even with this drug taking i still got the better of him" lol.

MiniArbre: thanx 4 your detailed reply. However, my response is still the same : whose gonna decide what's in and what's out and why? At the mo. I decide what I'm gonna, skim, scan or read in depth, or miss altogether, not some external arbitrator whose motives I might not agree with. I much prefer Ricky's softly, softly approach.

I see what you're saying, but I've never been a fan of restricting comments because they don't stay on topic well enough. I think conversations should be organic. That being said, if you see something overtly offensive that I miss (which I might, simply because of the number of comments on an entry like this), please feel free to e-mail me. cheryl.murray [AT] tennistalk.com

Homos, I'm going away on holiday on Thursday so I won't be able to give you my take on 'Strokes....' I am trying to watch the match whilst reading the book to see if I agree with Jon's take on what happened. I like the way he injects a little bit of their background in between the match facts, and so far it's very evenly balanced between the two.

I'm going to miss Paris as I shall be in Dubai, and their satelite service is not that great, but I trust other Rafans will be here cheerleading our champ to victory. As long as Rafa does well, or better still wins, I'll be happy to watch the recording.

Vamos Rafa!

Cheryl/Ricky, Perhaps a General thread would be a good idea, because sometimes it's not possible to find the appropriate thread to post something you think might be of interest.

carrie: have a great holiday! is dubai work/hol? have you been before? very humid but interesting place. take the boat rides, dirt cheap and fascinating. go to the museum, an impresive set up! say hi to federer, oh wait, he's in basel, never mind :))))
don't worry carrie, we'll cheer our camp for you. enjoy yourself! i'd like to hear what you think of the book when you get to the end. i didn't think it was fairly balanced but yeah, i like his style too.

homos, my daughter lives in Dubai, and I've been there many times before. I've even seen Federer's house, because a friend of my daughter's lives on one of the fronds on the Palm, where Federer's house is.

Carrie - a general thread is something we're working on. Thanks for the suggestion.

wow carrie, i'm not sure i could live in dubai. some bits too pretentious imo, and too humid, but people are really nice and friendly. i find flying in intriguing, seeing the dessert.

cheryl: great news! can't wait. no more bombshells from agassi, you must be having a nice day. silly question maybe but will you be reading andre's autobio, cheryl?

Maybe the general thread could just be called:
"Radek Stepanek: Sexiest Man On Tour"

smr, put that fuel can away!!!

smr, sarcasm will get you nowhere. lol

homos - I will read the auto-bio, because I plan to blog about it. However, I will make every effort to get it from my library. Frankly, I don't feel right purchasing it.

On an unrelated note - I read Strokes of Genius and I really quite enjoyed it. I didn't think of it at the time, but I should have done a blog about that.....

looks like lots of people are going to read it.
strokes is one of the better written books imo. i liked the style. but the idea was initially to write a bk on rf until LJW watched the match and changed his mind. still, you can see this reflected in the book with a heavier focus on rf. i thought it a bit odd considering who won that epic.

on a related note, i'm wondeirng what hingis has been thinking. she got tested +ve in '07, denied taking cocaine, got a 2 yr banned anyway and decided against contesting it. she should have written a letter to wada blaming slim.

Hingis was going out with the sexiest man in tennis at the time so was probably past caring, she had bagged Stepanek, what more could a girl want.

ouch!

carrie dear you need a holiday. i suggest you take one on thursday.

RickyDimon and Cheryl Murray, thanks a lot for your responses. I understand your position (too many posts to sift through) and style blog (organic conversation? Me like! :D). I'll keep all you said in the back of my mind.
*****
Deuce, you're welcome. I understand your point of view and, although I stand by my thoughts on moderating, I respect yours.
*****

Glad to see that the title "Radek Stepanek: Sexiest Man On Tour", has come to good use. ;D

Carrie, enjoy your vacation in Dubai. Have a fun and safe trip! The people their are very kind and friendly. I think you'll have a blast!
*****

Interesting takes on 'Strokes'. I haven't read it yet, but many people who I've spoken to tend to agree with what you said Homos. As for Andre's autobiography, much like Cheryl, I will not be spending money to read it. I'd much rather purchase Serena's book. If I do read Andre's, it will be because I borrowed it from a fwend or from the library. But seeing as I'm still in the middle of a John Steinbeck classic....*sigh* So many books, so little time.

Oh, here's a post I read that is in line with the whole Agassi debacle. It's titled: "Andre Agassi's positive drug test was well-guarded secret at the ATP"

I don't know if you people read it yet, so I thought I'd share:

http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/story/1727025.html

Verrry interrresting Miniarbre ...
Hope you don't mind but I mentioned the post in the news section here.

mini: thanks for the link. interesting! hey, i'm a john steinbeck fan too! ya, too many books to read. one i can't wait for is rafa's own official autobiog. not the one selling now, that's not official also i read it and it's complete crap :)

Smr, of course I don't mind! Knock yourself out! I'm happy you found it an interesting read. What with that article and the latest developments regarding the two Belgian tennis players being suspended....the effect of Agassi's confession and the exposure of the ATP's corruption is already rearing its ugly head.

Homos, you're welcome too! I'm glad you found it interesting as well. Hey, a fellow John Seinbeck fan! Awesome! His style of writing is just so intricate and confound but still remains earthy and true to human nature that I find myself getting lost in the pages to his books. I know this isn't the book club, but I'm excited to just know, which novel is your favorite? That is, if you can actually choose. :)

I totally agree with your sentiment on wanting to read Rafa's autobiography! Like you pointed out, it has to be his official book. We must wait very patiently, after all, he has yet to come close to filling the pages to the book of his life story and there are chapters he has yet to even begin writing. But it's amazing to think that he has enough substance, knowledge and experience to actually write one now if he fancied! At the tender age of 23! It's hard to imagine!

Have you ever read this one ( http://www.rafabook.com/ ) . It's titled: "The World of Rafael Nadal. Secrets of His Success. 30 Tips for Moving Forward." It is not an autobiography, more of a how-to and insight into his mindset and philosophy. Uncle Toni collaborated with the author of the book, so it is legitimate. He offers tips and the book contains some special chronicles from Rafa's experiences. Plus, the proceeds go on to benefit the 'Rafa Nadal Foundation'. A friend of mine ordered one for me as a gift, but as we're so far away from each other, my friend hasn't had the chance to get it to me yet. If you check out the link I provided you can get a taste of how the book will look and its general feel and format.

I just love the picture they used for the cover of the book. It is his 'Wish Moment' during the AO 2009 final. It was such a special moment. It was a special glimpse into an extra special part of his soul. I just love it.

MiniArbre, you're not alone!

VAMOS!!!

hey mini! hmm.. can't say i have a fav JS novel as you know but for a superficial reason, the red pony is dearest to me only because it was the first one i picked up that led me to the man. first impressions you know... JS is also my bro and cousin's fav. don't know that they have a fav novel tho i heard them have a long discussion one day about of mice and men which maybe they both love being fans of plays. ahh i could on but won't :)

you'll be happy to know i ordered the book via rafa's site. still waiting. a friend recommended. i've just had a look at your link to read the excerpts. didn't know about that, thanks for sharing. it looks better than i thought! so that was his wish moment. it makes it a lot of sense. i agree, it reveals more of him. another reason i like him. i admire players who can keep their emotions on court but i feel too detached from them. and the off-court rafa is to be admired, another special dimension to the young man. can't wait to see more of him next year but paris should be starting soon and than DC. hope spain can pull another win!

oh agassi was on the radio this morning about his drug revelations but nothing new, basically saying what's alreaady been written up by the vultures on line :)
i still want to know what samprass thought of it!! :)

Homos, thanks a lot for your response! 'The Red Pony', I haven't gotten to that one yet! I've read that it's supposed to be one of Steinbeck's best works! Hehe, I realize that going on about our favorite novels is a trap we can both easily fall in, so I'll end our wonderful little exchange on beautiful literary works with: My first Steinbeck novel was "Grapes of Wrath" (and though I'm in the midst of finishing "East of Eden" - a very painful yet wonderful read!) I think it will remain the top spot with EoE a VERY close second. But who knows? It may have to share that spot in the very near future when I get my paws on 'The Red Pony'. :D

Congrats on ordering your book! Hope it makes a hasty and safe journey to you soon. :) I echo all of your sentiments! I, too, cannot wait for the Paris Masters! Also, when Rafa is in Davis Cup I suddenly become a Spaniard, cheering him on madly. I cannot WAIT to see more Rafatennis! Plus, Rafa + Davis Cup = insanity. He just loves being a part of a team and doing his best for them. Fingers crossed for the victory.

Agassi on the radio, eh? He's firing on all cylinders promo-wise. As big a mouth as Sampras can have, something tells me he prefers to stay out of this one. Even with the jab directed at him in Agassi's book (Conners on the other hand may have a word or too.)

I read somewhere online (it was in the comments section of an article, so I'm not sure if it was a legitimate quote or not) I'm also not sure if Nasty said this just to be controversial, but he seemed to hint at knowing that Agassi was doing drugs and that he wasn't surprised at all. He also said that if more investigations were to happen, that people would be shocked at what they'd find out regarding Sampras.

Oi!

For the final note, here's an actual clip of Rafa's Wish Moment:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mEGDNHcHoU&feature=related


AH! It gets me every time! :3

wow mini i didn't know red pony was/is well reviewed. nice to know might not be superficial afterall :)

thanks so much for the link. i watched the match but must have paid attention to that moment. that is such a cute and intriguing act on his part. he seems quite superstitious - bottles, sock pulling (which he's apparently stopped completely tho i think this was more habbit that superstition). was that a little feather? what hat did he pull it out from?

so nasty is basically accusing pete of some hideous activities? does make you wonder. nasty has always been controversial though. don't think he was that popular on tour.

i've never thought of sampras as having a big mouth. intrigued by your comment. sampras does chose to remain silent on many things agassi-related. did you know about that nike-instigated provocation from agassi refering to pete as a monkey at no. 1? sampras chose not to utter a word, kept very quite, sent agassi beserk with guilt whereupon he finally sent a personal apology to pete. and those are only the ones we know of.... but i think agassi behaved much better following hsi comeback. i prefer to remember him duirng that time than earlier wig version.

Sooo disappointing.. it does make it look as though it was profit motivated OR... someone else would have broken the news...so AA beat them to the punch so to speak...

i suppose if you imagine someone else doing the dirty on and telling the world what andre did, journos and fans might say "why didn't he just come clean in this book and save himself the trauma"...

I've been one of Andre Agassi's biggest fans, BUT shame on him. I can forgive him for drug use and even for lying about it. But to stand up at this point in his successful life and try to convince the world that he's making these statements now to "inspire others who have woken up ,in a life they didn't choose", P L E A S E. The only people this will inspire is all the young people who have looked up to him; to now believe that you can cheat, you can lie and you can be a total fraud and still be a successful wealthy hero that all the world loves. He has no respect for the game, his father or any of his fans.

The self proclaimed example that he has heralded himself to be to youth, is simply another fraud in favor of selling books. One certainly can't ignore the timing of all this. He can?t possibly need the money, so one has to conclude that Andre is so incredibly narcissistic and un-evolved that he just can't stand to be out of the limelight. It's become very obvious from the revelations in his book that everything has and always will be ALL ABOUT HIM. I can't believe I feel this way, but, the game of tennis is better off without him.

I don't see what the Chery worship is about. She wouldn't have written this article if she had a choice. Agassi has always been fake; I'm gratified we had a champion in the 90s who still whooped his ass and made his worshippers cry :P

get a life people what with the criticising? HE TOOK DRUGS WHO DOESNT FAMOUS he turned his life around fair play to him its all jealous people knocking what he did!
Tennis is so boring he defintely had a great personality and made tennis fun exciting Federer great player but dull and boring yawn

Hey Dolldot2, i agree....but why they suspended so many players after him!!! its not fair!! he has to pay for this!

See andre agassi and his wig:
http://www.tennisdvdvideo.com/french-tennis-open-1990-andres-gom ez-d-andre-agassi-100