Players hit back over drug abuse claim

Andre Agassi yesterday stepped into a growing row over alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs in tennis when he said such claims were "irresponsible".

Agassi insisted: "While there's been a minimal amount of players caught over the last 10 years, we are also probably the leading sport in reference to how often we test, how professional our tests are and how strict our penalties are."

Here, for the first time in tennis, there are tests for EPO, a hormone occurring naturally in the body. When additional amounts are taken it is said to boost stamina.

The Australian Davis Cup player Andrew Ilie had been reported as saying: "For every new drug ... it takes testers about three to five years to learn how to detect it. The problem is so bad you might as well just let them use it and when players start dying out there and exploding then it's going to change their minds."

But Debbie Jevans, of the International Tennis Federation, said that Ilie "has stated categorically he has been misquoted. He has no thoughts that players are on drugs."