The US Open can lay claim to being one of the oldest tennis tournaments in the world, having first been staged in 1881, although initially separate US Opens were staged for male and female competitors.

Originally played at Newport, Rhode Island, the tournament was switched to the West Side Tennis Club at Forest Hills in New York and then enjoyed a brief sojourn in Philadelphia before returning to Forest Hills.

In 1968, when the open era started, the event was still being staged at the West Side Tennis Club, although as its popularity continued to grow, it became clear that the facilities would need upgrading in order to cope.

Like Wimbledon and the Australian Open, the US Open was contested on grass for many years, before hard clay courts were experimented with, but that all changed when it was decided to move the tournament to Flushing Meadows, also in New York.

The US Open has remained at Flushing Meadows ever since and its hard courts prove popular with the majority of the professional players.

It is also one of the noisiest venues on the tennis calendar with jets from all over the world flying overhead to the city's two main airports.

Despite that distraction, though, Flushing Meadows is an outstanding venue with all mod cons and is well-equipped to deal with the demands of the tennis fraternity in the 21st century.