The US Open, played at New York's Flushing Meadows, is the final Grand Slam event of the tennis year.

It's also the richest tennis tournament in the world with over $17m of prize money up for grabs in 2003.

It is played on a green hard-court surface known as Decoturf.

At the US Open though - it is often the raucous atmosphere and not the playing surface that wrong-foots the players.

Maybe that's why it's sometimes referred to as the world's toughest tennis tournament.

It's certainly the biggest.

The Arthur Ashe Stadium holds 23,000 spectators - and they can sure be intimidating.

Britain's Greg Rusedski was completely unnerved when the Flushing Meadows crowd got behind his opponent Todd Martin three years ago.

Borg hated playing under floodlights

After being in control he ended up losing the match after the crowd started hurling abuse at him.

Added to the noise of the crowd, planes from nearby La Guardia Airport also used to take off right over Flushing Meadows.

The US Open also features night matches played under floodlights - and that can also have an affect on some players.

Bjorn Borg, who won 11 Grand Slam titles during the 1970s and early 1980s, never won the US Open because he could not stand playing under floodlights.

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