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?’

‘Next time you go to the nationals and Paps gives you pills, don’t take them’.

‘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.