Tennis Capsules: Agassi's book reveals lies he ‘can't live with'

It turns out Andre Agassi was lying all along.

To fans. To opponents. To tennis authorities. To first wife Brooke Shields. To friends, including Barbra Streisand. To the media. And, he says, to himself.

"I can’t live with that anymore," Agassi said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

"These lies — some of them came, certainly, out of fear. A lot of them came out of real confusion. A lot of it was thinking out loud. A lot of it was just getting stuff wrong. And a lot of it started with lies to myself," Agassi said. "When I retired from tennis, I had the opportunity, the time, the energy, to turn a real hard lens on myself."

His book "Open," in stores Monday, allows Agassi to unburden himself of secrets he’s carried for years. Secrets about using crystal meth, about evading punishment for a failed drug test, about wearing a hairpiece, about what he calls a long-standing hatred of tennis.

Agassi described the memoir, a compelling read crafted by Pulitzer Prize winner J.R. Moehringer from tape recordings of the eight-time Grand Slam champion’s taped recollections, as part of his "atonement for where I’ve been in my life."

As he retraces that life in present tense — and without quotation marks, because "this is reconstructed dialogue," as he put it — Agassi sets out to explain himself and describe his journey from ninth-grade dropout to founder of a prep school in Las Vegas. He writes about his courtship of tennis star Steffi Graf, now his wife and the mother of their two children.

Along the way, he offers critical words for rivals such as Pete Sampras, Michael Chang and Boris Becker; discusses "tanking" matches; and poignantly describes his childhood fear of his father ("shrill and stern and filled with rage"), who Agassi told the AP refused to read the book.

Agassi recounts how, when he was a kid, his father would give him Excedrin before matches because it contained caffeine. Once, Agassi writes, his father gave him what Agassi believes to be speed. He also writes at various points about using marijuana and alcohol. Speaking to the AP, Agassi called crystal meth "a performance inhibitor" and said, "Everything I earned on the tennis court, I actually had to probably earn more than I needed to, because of many of the things I did to myself."

Asked whether he ever took performance-enhancing substances as a professional, Agassi — who retired in 2006 — replied, with a light chuckle, "No. No. The answer is ‘No."’

He is not surprised by the negative reactions to some of the book’s revelations. Martina Navratilova, for example, likened Agassi to baseball’s Roger Clemens; Roger Federer referred to material in the book as "a bit of a pity."

Agassi understands such responses, he told the AP, because, "You’ve got to remember: I spent many years angry and disappointed at myself."

He said he simply felt compelled to confess to using crystal meth "a lot" in 1997, failing a doping test that year, lying to the men’s tennis tour about how the drug entered his system and avoiding punishment.

"How can you tell people to not hide from truth when you hide from it?" Agassi said in the interview. "While I know this story cuts against the grain of one’s perceptions of me, it is the true me. And I believe in that authenticity."

He added: "I have no regrets about what’s in there."

There are plenty of fascinating passages, aside from the excerpts sold to magazines and newspapers as part of the publicity push to help sell books. Agassi used the word "sensationalized" repeatedly during the 20-minute interview to describe those excerpts.

He hopes people will read the entire book so they can appreciate what he called its "power."

"It’s about me learning how to commit fully, despite the fear of failure," he said. "It’s a person waking up in a life that they didn’t choose, in a life that they maybe don’t want, and not being sure how to take ownership of their own life, and figuring that out."

The book also is about tennis:

—On Sampras: Agassi says Sampras "sounds more robotic than" a parrot. At his depths, Agassi thinks: "I envy Pete’s dullness. I wish I could emulate his spectacular lack of inspiration, and his peculiar lack of need for inspiration." Agassi tells of betting coach Brad Gilbert about how much Sampras tipped a parking valet; they ask the valet, who says $1; Agassi’s conclusion: "We could not be more different, Pete and I."

—On Chang: "He thanks God — credits God — for the win, which offends me. That God should take sides in a tennis match, that God should side against me, that God should be in Chang’s box, feels ludicrous and insulting. I beat Chang and savor every blasphemous stroke." When Chang wins the 1989 French Open, Agassi thinks, "I feel sickened. How could Chang, of all people, have won a slam before me?"

—On other opponents: Agassi writes about holding grudges against Becker (who Agassi says blew kisses at Shields during a match), Jim Courier, Thomas Muster, Yevgeni Kafelnikov, Jeff Tarango (who Agassi says cheated during a match between them when Agassi was 8).

—On "tanking": Agassi says he lost on purpose against Chang in the Australian Open semifinals one year so he wouldn’t have to face Becker in the final, writing: "It’s almost harder than winning. You have to lose in such a way that the crowd can’t tell." He also says of sports writers: "They never get it right. When I tank, they say I’m not good enough; when I’m not good enough, they say I tank."

—On his fake hair: Of the 1990 French Open final, Agassi writes, "Warming up before the match, I pray. Not for a win, but for my hairpiece to stay on."

—On the 1999 French Open final, which he won to complete a career Grand Slam: "I’ve already obsessed about this tournament for the last ten years. I can’t bear the idea of obsessing about it for another eighty. ... If I don’t win this thing right now, I’ll never be happy, truly happy, again."

Italy routs Williams-less U.S. team to win Fed Cup

REGGIO CALABRIA, Italy — The Williams sisters were conspicuous by their absence on Sunday when Italy completed a shutout of the United States to win its second Fed Cup title in four years.

Yet the Americans who did play had no regrets and the victorious Italians felt there was no need to put an asterisk next to their victory.

"I wanted to come here. I wanted to play for my country. Other people choose different things," U.S. Open quarterfinalist Melanie Oudin said after her 7-5, 6-2 loss to Flavia Pennetta gave Italy an insurmountable 3-0 lead in the best-of-five series.

"Some people I guess didn’t want to play as badly as I did. But I think that the team that we had here really wanted to be here," Oudin said. "You don’t want people here that don’t want to be here. Even if you lose, if you give it everything you have, then that’s the best you can do."

The 11th-ranked Pennetta and the 16th-ranked Francesca Schiavone also scored straight-set singles victories Saturday on the outdoor clay court at the Rocco Polimeni club.

The fourth singles rubber was canceled and Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci completed the 4-0 shutout by edging Liezel Huber and Vania King in doubles 4-6, 6-3, and 11-9 in a champions tiebreaker.

Top-ranked Serena Williams and sister Venus had decided not play in the Fed Cup final before meeting in the season-ending tour championships final last weekend.

The Italians beat France in the opening round and ousted defending champion Russia in the semifinals, but still faced questions over the value of their victory without the Williams sisters.

"We’re the world champions, it’s simple," Pennetta said. "We’ve played against some great teams this year."

Pennetta and Vinci skipped an elite second-tier season-ending tournament in Bali this week, giving up potential rankings points and valuable prize money in the process.

"To represent your country it’s something very different," Pennetta said. "We always play for ourselves. Here it’s completely different."

Without the Williamses, Oudin was the highest-ranked American at No. 49. Alexa Glatch — No. 132 — played second singles.

"The main goal is to build the new generation," U.S. captain Mary Joe Fernandez said. "You’ve seen the new generation this year. There are many other young players coming along as well."

Still, the Americans don’t want to close the door for the Williams sisters.

"Serena and Venus are just a different story," Fernandez added. "If they are willing and able to participate, I think that’s a great experience for everybody involved in it to learn from."

Pennetta opened the series by beating Glatch and Schiavone made it 2-0 with a win over the 18-year-old Oudin.

Oudin said she let her team and country down by losing twice. But after scoring an important point against the Czech Republic in the semifinals and having the experience of playing No. 1 singles here, she also had something to be enthusiastic about for the future.

"I think this was a great experience for me," she said. "I’m going to look back on it and someday when I’m in a Fed Cup final again, hopefully I’ll be able to pull out the win. It will go my way instead of theirs next time."

The U.S. has won a record 17 Fed Cups, but its last title came in 2000. Italy won its first Fed Cup title in 2006 over Belgium and Justine Henin, and lost the 2007 final to Russia.

The Italians celebrated this time by launching captain Corrado Barazzutti up and down into the air, then ran around the court dousing each other with bottles of champagne and water.

"These girls are incredible," Barazzutti said. "The first victory was extraordinary and this second one goes beyond expectations."

The young Americans see the Italians as a model to emulate.

"They are a real team, and I think that is what has really helped them this year," Oudin said. "They do it extremely well. I think that’s a huge part of Fed Cup."

-- Andrew Dampf

Federer loses to Djokovic in Swiss Indoors final

BASEL, Switzerland — Top-ranked Roger Federer lost his hometown tournament on Sunday, falling 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 to Novak Djokovic in the Swiss Indoors final.

Djokovic earned his fourth title of the season with a victory that ended Federer’s run of three straight titles at the tournament where he was once a ballboy.

"It’s disappointing to lose at home in the finals, no doubt," Federer said. "I thought I missed plenty of opportunities. I’m not looking for excuses. He played tough and he played well when he had to, and saved a ton of break points that were crucial."

Djokovic improved to 3-2 this year against Federer, and said the top-ranked Swiss pushed him to his limits.

"I have to produce something special to win," Djokovic said at sold-out St. Jakobshalle.

The second-seeded Serb clinched the first set by saving five break points in a game that lasted 24 minutes.

"It may be the longest I have ever played in my life," Djokovic said. "It was maybe the turning point in the whole match. I was fortunate to keep my nerves."

Federer fought back from a break down to win the second set and rouse his partisan fans, but Djokovic raced to a 4-0 lead in the decider and closed out the victory after Federer wasted three break points in the sixth game.

It was a tour-leading 71st win this year for Djokovic, who improved to 4-5 in finals in 2009. His other title wins were at Dubai, his home event at Belgrade, and Beijing last month.

Federer is 59-9 this year after losing only his third match since May.

The first set went with serve, until Federer was broken for the first time in the tournament to trail 5-4. Then came that tense, error-strewn game that featured 11 deuces before Djokovic took his seventh set-point chance.

Federer dropped serve again to open the second set, sending another forehand into the net. But he won his next service game, then broke his opponent for the first time when a drop shot grazed the net cord before falling in play.

He broke Djokovic’s serve again to win the set when the 22-year-old Serb sent a forehand into the net. Djokovic rallied immediately in the decider, Federer dropping two straight service games for the second time in the match.

Trailing 4-1, Federer held three break points at 0-40 but was let down again by his groundstrokes as Djokovic reeled off five straight points. Djokovic needed just one match point to clinch, as Federer mistimed a backhand from the baseline.

-- Graham Dunbar

Murray beats Youzhny 6-3, 6-2 to win Valencia Open

VALENCIA, Spain — Andy Murray won his sixth title of the season Sunday in his first tournament back from a wrist injury, beating Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 6-3, 6-2 in the Valencia Open final.

The fourth-ranked Scot hadn’t played since the U.S. Open in September. He broke twice in each set and served eight aces to improve to 2-0 against the 23rd-ranked Youzhny.

"I’d say it was a little easier than I had expected, but he is a tough player," Murray said. "I didn’t have high expectations this week, but with every round and match you get more confident. It is very rare for someone to win a tournament after a long break."

With both players stretched to three-set semifinals on Saturday, Murray believed fatigue played a factor.

"I knew the start of the match was going to be important and I started well, going up 5-1 pretty quickly," he said.

Murray won 26 of 29 first-serve points as he improved his indoor record to 12-0 this season. Having saved two of three break points in the first set, Murray jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second by dictating play from the baseline. He closed out the victory with an ace.

Blake beats Santoro in Paris Masters 1st round

PARIS — James Blake of the United States beat French veteran Fabrice Santoro 6-4, 6-3 in the first round of the Paris Masters on Sunday.

The 36-year-old Santoro, who is playing his final season on the ATP tour, swapped jerseys with Blake after the match and did a lap around the court to warm applause from the crowd at Bercy indoor arena.

Blake broke Santoro’s serve twice in each set, and afterward paid tribute to the Frenchman.

"He’s a great competitor, such a classy guy. Someone I’ve had a lot of tough matches with," said Blake, who next plays fourth-seeded Andy Murray of Britain. "He’s had a great career. It’s unbelievable how much success he’s had in singles and doubles and how well liked he is by his competitors."

Murray beat Mikhail Youzhny in the Valencia Open final on Sunday, winning his sixth title of the season in his first tournament back since injuring his wrist at the U.S. Open in September.

In another first-round match in Paris on Sunday, Benjamin Becker beat Michael Llodra of France 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. The German next meets sixth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko of Russia.

Becker converted all three break chances, and saved two second-set break points and another in the decider. Both players served nine aces.

Rezai wins Tournament of Champions final

NUSA DUA, Indonesia — Aravane Rezai has won the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions after top-seeded Marion Bartoli retired from the final with a thigh injury after losing the first set 7-5.

Bartoli was up 4-2 on Sunday and then had a set point in the ninth game before the 44th-ranked Rezai broke back to level at 5-5.

Bartoli then needed medical treatment on her left thigh in the 12th game. She continued to play but double-faulted to hand Rezai the set and then retired.

It was Rezai’s second title of the year after winning in Strasbourg.