NEW YORK -- Andre Agassi is responding to criticism of his crystal meth use with a plea for compassion, telling TV's 60 Minutes he needed help when he took the drug while depressed in 1997.
Discussing his new autobiography, Agassi became emotional when reacting to comments by Martina Navratilova, who compared him to disgraced baseball star Roger Clemens.
"It's what you don't want to hear," Agassi told the interviewer. "I would hope along with that would come some compassion that maybe this person doesn't need condemnation. Maybe this person could stand a little help. Because that was at a time in my life when I needed help.
"I had a problem, and there might be many other athletes out there that test positive for recreational drugs that have a problem. So I would ask for some compassion."
CBS released excerpts from the interview on Thursday and will broadcast it on Sunday.
In his book Open, which goes on sale on Monday, Agassi says he used crystal meth in 1997 and failed a drug test -- a result he says was thrown out after he lied by saying he unwittingly took the substance.
Agassi told 60 Minutes he has no regrets about his disclosures.
"I had way more to lose by telling this story in its full transparency than I had to gain," he said. "The part that I worry and think more about is who this may help."
