VIENNA: Former Austrian tennis ace Thomas Muster said he was surprised by Andre Agassi’s recent drug revelations but that they did not “in any way” diminish his achievements, in an interview published Sunday.
“I was surprised he admitted to doping after such a long time,” Muster, who faced the American on several occasions during his career, told the Austria Press Agency (APA) on the sidelines of the ATP tournament in Vienna.
“I don’t understand how one would want to damage one’s image in a book like that after such a long time,” he added.
Agassi, one of just six men to have won all four Grand Slam titles and widely regarded as one of the sport’s finest players, revealed in a new autobiography that he took crystal methamphetamine in 1997 when his form was falling and also lied to sporting authorities to escape a ban. For Muster, this did not “in any way” diminish Agassi’s achievements in tennis.
“He was a very fair athlete, a colorful character at the beginning who then developed into a gentleman,” Muster said, insisting that Agassi’s career was not a lie. But he admitted: “Following the comments by Andre Agassi, certain things that people used to whisper about have become a lot clearer.” Doping was not a major problem in tennis, the Austrian noted however.
“Tennis isn’t really a doping sport, it happens rather rarely.”
“Obviously there have been cases, and some people have been handed bans for that, but it isn’t common practice in tennis to dope yourself,” he said. Revelations that Agassi had worn a hairpiece to hide his baldness were also nothing new, said Muster.
New deal on
Meanwhile, the WTA and their title sponsors, communications giant Sony Ericsson, have yet to agree an extension to their 88-million-dollar agreement despite a deadline fast approaching, it was announced here on Sunday.
The deal was signed in 2005, but the deadline on renewal is at the end of 2009 with negotiations given a sharper focus by the global economic situation.
“I can certainly confirm we are looking at it very carefully,” said Aldo Ligouri, the vice-president and head of global communications at Sony Ericsson.
“If you have been following Sony Ericsson these past several months, we’ve gone through some very important changes, including a new president having come onboard only a few weeks ago. So we are looking at our sponsorship seriously. “We haven’t made any decision yet, and all options are open. We will announce the decision alongside our partner at the appropriate time.”
When the six-year deal was signed in 2005, it represented a much-needed boost for the WTA, which had been without a title sponsor in 2003 and 2004.
However, two weeks ago, Ericsson reported worse-than-expected third quarter results, with a 74 percent fall in net profit blamed on falling sales and problems at its Sony Ericsson venture.
Ericsson, the world number one mobile network firm, said net profit in the three months to September fell to 120 million dollars, well below analyst forecasts compiled by Dow Jones Newswire.
