Chris Evert: 'Australian Open favourite Grand Slam for most players'

Former world number one and 18-time Grand Slam champion Chris Evert believes that the majority of today's players would rank the Australian Open higher than the three other majors.

Melbourne will host the tournament from next week to mark the first Grand Slam of the season, but the age old question remains as to which is the best major out of Australia, Wimbledon, the French Open and the US Open.

While there are many factors that would warrant all four a place at the top of the list, Evert, who will be part of ESPN's televised coverage of the tournament in the US, has told Sports Mole that the timing of the Australian Open works in its favour.

"It was number four when I played," Evert admitted. "Now though, [from the players' perspective] I think it's one of the favourites. All you hear from the players is that 'we love it and it's the friendly Grand Slam. We love playing down there and we love the fans'. I think it's the most relaxing, for sure, out of all the Grand Slams for the players.

"I think it's the friendliest one and I think that the players are doubly excited because it's the first one of the year. They all want to do well, they're all fresh and raring to go, so I think motivation-wise they love it.

"It's a really tough question to ask because by the time you get to the French and Wimbledon and the US Open, I think there's a little more strain, there's a little more pressure, it's the middle of the year. At the US Open you're starting to physically get tired - most players say [the Australian Open is] their favourite one."

Evert won two Australian Open titles in her career, while also having seven French Open titles, three Wimbledon triumphs and six US Open victories.

ESPN.co.uk will provide comprehensive coverage of the 2014 Australian Open Championships with live scores, video, and reports, plus fans can follow all the live action via ESPN CourtCast which provides real-time scoring and graphical play-by-play summaries.