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So which is the toughest Grand Slam to win?

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Tennis commentator Barry Millns looks at the different surfaces, time differences and weather conditions that determine which is the toughest Slam to win

When tennis first went 'open' to professionals back in the late 1960's three of the four grand slams were still played on grass, the exception being Roland Garros with its clay courts. Yet back in the days of wooden rackets the game was generally played at a much slower pace, so the differences between the surfaces were not nearly as accentuated as they are now and numerous players down the decades prospered on both.

Then, in the 1970's, the US Open's switch to hard courts (after a brief spell on clay), plus the advent of more powerful rackets and the greater use of top-spin, had a huge effect on the game. The tours became predominantly a mix of clay, hard and indoor events, while the grass court season shrunk to little more than a month - things became even more diverse in the late 1980's when the Australian Open switched to Rebound Ace.

Consequently, since Bjorn Borg won the last of his six French Opens in 1981, the year after he won the last of his five Wimbledon crowns, only one man has won both events since - Andre Agassi, who is also the only man after Laver, and the fifth all-time, to win all four grand slams in his career.

So which is the hardest one to win? Much still depends on individuals' styles of play and their opponents. Roger Federer (currently trading at [1.66] to retain his Australian Open title next January) would surely have won the French Open by now had it not been for Rafael Nadal [15.5], but generally speaking if you prefer a faster, flatter ball and have a big serve you will tend to do better on grass than on clay.

It is worth noting that together with Federer, other modern greats who all failed to win that elusive French Open include Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg and Pete Sampras while the list of those who came up short at Wimbledon includes Ken Rosewall, Ivan Lendl, Mats Wilander, Monica Seles and (so far) Justine Henin [2.4].

But it is not just the quality of opposition which has to be faced and dealt with; it is also the prevailing conditions of each grand slam. If you have ever been to Melbourne in January then you will know you can face all four seasons in a single day - I once saw the temperature drop 20 degrees in an hour as the warm wind, originally from the northern desert, then swung right round as an icy draft from the Antarctic!

Having two show courts with retractable roofs at Melbourne Park is certainly a blessing and the extreme-heat policy of some years standing has also been a wise move. But in searing temperatures the Rebound Ace courts also tend to become 'sticky', causing a spate of ankle injuries and so the Australian Open's decision from 2008 to play on Plexicushion hard courts instead has been widely welcomed.

Jetlag and acclimatising should not be a problem as long as players arrive in good time. But by the time they have turned up in Paris for the French Open in May, the air-miles they have earned probably match the miles in their legs because however you look at the clay court season it is brutal.

Chasing down ball after ball, hour after hour, week after week under a blazing sun may be Nadal's idea of fun, but for others it is a painful endurance test and the quicker it is over the better. Then again for others, Wimbledon is alien territory, because they play on grass so rarely and have so little time to prepare for it

But by the time the tours arrive at Flushing Meadows in late August, two thirds of the way through another punishing season, the player must also be prepared to deal with the high humidity, strong winds, low flying jets, plus the general buzz and razzmatazz that is the US Open. Borg never managed to win it, while it took the similarly laid-back Edberg some years before he enjoyed the experience enough to do so.

Ultimately it depends on who you ask, but right now, bearing in mind that Federer has won all the others, I would say the toughest of the four to win is the French Open. Would you?