Us Open 1999
It's a little long. Bear with me.
I write this letter to you using my own words and my own thoughts. I've been
wanting to share this with you for a long time. I wasn't ready until this
moment. By giving this to you all, I wish to close the envelope of my past.
I know there is much mystery, much question to what happened, and I must
also say, many lies. Yes, I made mistakes by rebelling, by acting out in
confused ways. But it was all due to the fact I was very young and I was
experiencing my adolescence. Most of you know how hard that can be. When you
do it in front of the world, it is even harder.
I took a different path, one you might not expect. But along the path, I
learned a lot about my life -- about life. It has molded me into what I am
now. If I knew there would be so much pain in learning life's lessons, I
would have been hesitant to take the path that I took. It's the only thing I do regret.
Let me say that the path I did take for a brief period of my life was not of
reckless drug use, hurting others, but it was a path of quiet rebellion, of
a little experimentation of a darker side of my confusion in a confusing
world, lost in the midst of finding my identity.
I made mistakes, and, yes, I am to blame, and no one else. I am sorry to my
loved ones that I humiliated and embarrassed. And I'm sorry to my fans who I
feel I let down. I'm sorry to myself for causing such pain.
But I've put a great deal behind me, moving forward in the right direction,
the direction I feel is right.
I feel like I've started a new chapter in my life, and I need to leave the
past behind. So this will be the final time that I speak about the past. I
just ask that after today, you please respect my wishes.
I want to thank many of you for the support you've given me in the past and
here at this great US Open. I can't thank the fans enough. They have touched
my heart with their support from all over the world.
I feel each day for me now is getting better and better. I wrote this
statement before The Open began and waited until my run was over to say all this.
Thanks for listening and understanding.
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