Lies, damned lies etc.

It's such a stereotype that people with autism have obsessions about certain subjects. At social events for autistic people, I am often asked to name my 'special interest'. I find it very hard to answer because I am interested in a wide variety of things, although I do bring my fact-finding ability and ruthless attention to detail to bear on all of them. As a teenager, I spent a great deal of time on my hobby of compiling sports statistics and, this Wimbledon, I experienced a brief revival of the craze. I decided to determine the most successful players, male and female, at the Championships since 1968, when professionals were allowed to take part for the first time.

In case you are interested, I have decided to add a social dimension to this effort by publishing the results on this blog. The tables have been compiled based on the ranking systems currently used in men's and women's tennis. The top twenty male players at Wimbledon are:

1) Jimmy Connors
2) Pete Sampras
3) Boris Becker
4) John McEnroe
5) Bjorn Borg
6) Stefan Edberg
7) Goran Ivanisevic
8) Ivan Lendl
9) Andre Agassi
10) John Newcombe
11) Roger Federer
12) Stan Smith
13) Tim Henman
14) Roscoe Tanner
15) Ilie Nastase
16) Rod Laver
17) Patrick Rafter
18) Pat Cash
19) Arthur Ashe
20) Richard Krajicek

It's rather a surprise that Jimmy Connors finishes top of the list, as he only has two victories, compared to seven by Pete Sampras. However, he reached six finals and got to the semi-finals a staggering eleven times. Similarly, Tim Henman finishes remarkably high at unlucky thirteen, by virtue of an impressive four semi-final appearances. Here are the top twenty women:

1) Martina Navratilova
2) Chris Evert
3) Steffi Graf
4) Billie Jean King
5) Evonne Goolagong
6) Venus Williams
7) Lindsay Davenport
8) Virgina Wade
9) Jana Novotna
10) Serena Williams
11) Margaret Court
12) Gabriela Sabatini
13) Arantxa Sanchez Vicario
14) Conchita Martinez
15) Rosie Casals
16) Pam Shriver
17) Hana Mandlikova
18) Zina Garrison
19) Nathalie Tauziat
20) Jennifer Capriati

There are fewer shocks here but, if you are wondering why Martina Hingis is not listed, it is because she played in only seven Wimbledons, and lost in the first round of three of them.

I have now moved onto a new obsession, online poker, not for money fortunately, because I am not very good. Still, I am the sort of person who can get addicted to gambling, even when playing with monopoly money, so I had better be a little bit careful.