His speech has become scarce in the media since his retirement in 2004, due to back problems. Marcelo Rios, however, made shocking remarks in an interview with the Chilean daily La Tercera published this weekend.
The former world No. 1 notably accuses the governing body of the male professional circuit of having concealed "four times" in the 1990s cases of doping concerning the former American star Andre Agassi. Contacted, ATP had not reacted this Wednesday.
The Chilean, who has never won a single Grand Slam but has won 18 titles including Indian Wells, Miami and Rome gleaned in 1998, has always cultivated a singular spirit on the circuit, to be classified among the lot of strong characters. A personality trait that he seems to have retained at 44 years of age.
Asked by the Chilean daily newspaper about the doping case concerning his compatriot Nicolas Jarry, suspended after a positive test for anabolics in November 2019, Rios violently attacks ATP, "the biggest shit that exists".
Agassi has previously revealed to be addicted to methamphetamine
“They caught Agassi four times for doping and covered him because it was Agassi, and tennis was going into the wall. These are shit, gringos, ”he says .
In his autobiography published in 2009, Andre Agassi, also former world n ° 1, had revealed to be addicted during part of his career to methamphetamine and to have tested positive for a hard drug in 1997.
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He also told how he lied to the ATP to justify this check, thus avoiding the slightest penalty. But no revelation on other possible cases of doping.