Patten, 28, is a late bloomer who studied finance at university in the United States.

In 2016, he spent the summer break from his studies working on the outdoor courts at Wimbledon as a data analyst for IBM.

Heliovarra, 35, stopped playing professionally in 2013 because of an autoimmune disease that affects his spine.

"I never really aspired to be a professional tennis player as a junior or when I was at university. I just kept doing quite well and it snowballed," Patten said.

"And Harri thought that was it for him when he stopped playing singles. He was working at the airport, had a stint in finance then came back to the sport.

"Now we're both very focused on tennis but we're multi-faceted in our backgrounds."

Patten says it feels like he has known Heliovaara for years, even though they only started spending time together from April.

Their friendship was further strengthened when Patten headed to Helsinki for a week of training in October, staying with Heliovaara, his wife and two small children in their family home.

After the serious business of training, Patten was keen to learn and experience as much about the Finnish way of life as he could.

Regular trips around the capital city to see the tourist sights were followed by some home cooking by Heliovaara - including his speciality dish of reindeer stew.

"He told me about halfway through that he was cooking it, so I was a little nervous about the outcome," laughs Patten.

"It was very good. I was very complimentary and he was very complimentary about his own cooking.

"I don't know what that says about him but he seemed to think he had done a very good job."

That sense of humour, alongside a deep mutual respect, underpins a stable partnership that they hope will give them a head start against a host of new men's pairings that have come together for this season.

The targets for the new season naturally start with another Grand Slam title in Melbourne, before a concerted effort for the world's top 10 aided by greater consistency on the ATP Tour.

"Everyone else is scrambling a little bit and not knowing how these partnerships are going to go," Patten said.

"Ours is a partnership which we know works and can be very effective.

"We're looking forward to kicking on. We have a lot to achieve."

Emma Raducanu said she apologised to Andy Murray over her Wimbledon mixed doubles withdrawal last year as she did not want any "bad blood" between the pair.

Murray was due to play alongside Raducanu during his final outing at the All England Club before his fellow Briton pulled out of the mixed doubles because of "some stiffness" in her right wrist.

The former men's world number one was not permitted to find a replacement partner as the draw had already been made and was said to be "disappointed" by a decision which ended his Wimbledon career.

It meant Murray's last match at the tournament was a defeat alongside older brother Jamie in the men's doubles earlier on at the event.

Murray's mother Judy - in response to a post on X from television presenter Marcus Buckland describing Raducanu's decision as "astonishing" - wrote: "Yes, astonishing."

After a string of negative responses, she later wrote: "Not sure anyone understands sarcasm these days. Pretty sure the scheduling... will have played a major part in any decision-making."

Raducanu addressed the issue after her second round win against Amanda Anisimova at the Australian Open on Thursday.

"Afterwards I sent him [Andy Murray] a long message basically apologising if I caused any trouble, I guess, at Wimbledon, that's definitely the last thing I want," said Raducanu.

"He's someone that I've grown up looking up to and I don't want any bad blood or harsh feelings with him.

"I sent him a long message and he took it really well and responded saying he was disappointed but he understood."

Murray, who retired after competing at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, is also at the Australian Open as he is part of Novak Djokovic's coaching team.

"We're fine now," added Raducanu. "We walk past each other and say, 'hello', 'well done'. It's obviously really cool seeing him with Novak [Djokovic] here as well."

Jannik Sinner recovered from a slow start against world number 173 Tristan Schoolkate to keep his Australian Open title defence on track.

Sinner, who claimed his first major title in Melbourne last year, had not dropped a set since October's Shanghai Masters.

But Australian Schoolkate thrilled a partisan crowd on Rod Laver Arena when he struck at 5-4 to win the opener and end Sinner's 29-set winning streak.

However, the wildcard could not keep pace with the top seed as Sinner sped through the gears to grab a 4-6 6-4 6-1 6-3 victory and a place in the third round.

The 23-year-old is the youngest player to win nine successive men's singles matches at the Australian Open since Novak Djokovic between 2008 and 2009.

Asked how this year felt different to his title-winning run, Sinner said: "It's a different feeling but so many beautiful moments, on and off the court, have happened to me here. It's different but I take it as a chance to do it again.

"It's still a very, very long way to go. We go day by day. Seeing my level today we know that I can improve."

Sinner is competing at the Australian Open for the first time since he failed two doping tests in March.

His doping case will be heard at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) in April after the World Anti-Doping Agency appealed appealed against the decision to clear him.

Schoolkate arrived at this year's tournament with just two Grand Slam match wins under his belt, but he made Sinner look far from his best in the first set.

The two-time major winner struggled to deal with Schoolkate's aggressive play at the net, with the home favourite winning 17 of his 18 net points in clinching the opener.

Sinner had to wait for 80 minutes to bring up his first break point opportunity, but he took it with both hands and it was plain sailing from there for the defending champion, who will face American Marcos Giron in the third round on Saturday.

Collins said the 290,000 Australian dollars (147,500) that she will receive for reaching the third round at Melbourne Park would be used on a "five-star trip".

"Me and my group of girlfriends, we love a five-star vacation so I can guarantee that cheque is going to go towards our next five-star trip hopefully to the Bahamas," said Collins, who will face compatriot Madison Keys next.

"We like boats, we like big boats, we like yachts, so we'll post about it and let you guys know how it goes."

Collins returned to tennis at the start of 2025 after previously announcing she would retire at the end of the 2024 season.

She continues to deal with endometriosis, which can affect fertility, and told BBC Sport in May that starting a family was "one of her biggest goals outside of tennis".

Cardiff: Jacob Beetham; Gabriel Hamer-Webb, Rey Lee-Lo, Rory Jennings, Tom Bowen; Ben Thomas (capt), Ellis Bevan; Rhys Barratt, Evan Lloyd, Kieron Assiratti, Josh McNally, Teddy Williams, Alex Mann, Thomas Young, Alun Lawrence.

Replacements: Efan Daniel, Danny Southworth, Rhys Litterick, Rory Thornton, Mackenzie Martin, Johan Mulder, Callum Sheedy, Cameron Winnett.

Connacht: Santiago Cordero; Chay Mullins, Piers O'Conor, Bundee Aki, Byron Ralston; Josh Ioane, Ben Murphy; Peter Dooley, Dave Heffernan, Finlay Bealham, Josh Murphy, Joe Joyce, Cian Prendergast (capt), Conor Oliver, Paul Boyle.

Replacements: Eoin de Buitlear, Jordan Duggan, Jack Aungier, David O'Connor, Sean Jansen, Matthew Devine, JJ Hanrahan, David Hawkshaw.

Referee: Morne Ferreira (SARU)

Assistant referees: Aimee Barrett-Theron & Griffin Colby (SARU)

TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen (SARU)

Ulster: S Moore; W Kok, B Carson, J Postlethwaite, M Lowry; J Murphy, N Doak; E O'Sullivan, R Herring, S Wilson; I Henderson (capt), C Izuchukwu; J McNabney, N Timoney, D McCann.

Replacements: C Reid, T Stewart, C Barrett, H Sheridan, K Treadwell, J Cooney, J Flannery, R Lyttle.

Exeter: H Skinner; B Hammersley, J Hawkins, W Rigg, P Brown-Bampoe; W Haydon-Wood, N Armstrong; W Goodrick-Clarke, J Innard (capt), J Isoefa-Scott; R Tuima, C Tshiunza; M Moloney, R Capstick, R Vintcent.

Replacements: Max Norey, K Blose, J Roots, J Dunne, L Pearson, J Bailey, T Cairns, Z Wimbush.

Referee: Hollie Davidson (Sco)

Rees-Zammit was known for his blistering speed and agility on the rugby field, which are coveted qualities in the NFL.

But the 23-year-old's transition has not been without its challenges, with Rees-Zammit already having played multiple positions, including running back and on special teams.

Schecter believes that wide receiver might be his best fit.

"Ultimately, it's all about developing his football IQ," Schecter explained.

"He needs to absorb as much knowledge as possible about the game. It's been tough for him, but his athleticism is undeniable, and that will give him a solid foundation."

With a new head coach on the way in Jacksonville, Rees-Zammit's future in the NFL remains uncertain.

The Jaguars have not opted to sign Rees-Zammit to a reserve/future contract, which franchises can use to prevent players from negotiating deals with other teams.

As a result, the former Wales wing is able to strike a deal with any of the NFL's 32 teams, but he could find himself back with Jacksonville in the future.

"Their season is over now and they don't really start going back until end of March, early April," said Schecter.

"Nobody's really in the building right now but he's doing everything he can to make sure that he either can re-sign with the Jags or find another team."

Fixtures:

Saturday, 18 January - Clermont Auvergne v Bristol (15:15 GMT), Benetton v La Rochelle (17:30 GMT), Leinster v Bath (17:30)

Leinster have already qualified and know a win at home to Bath on Saturday will secure their spot as number one seeds from Pool 2.

Clermont know a home win over Bristol is likely to give them a place in the last 16 because of the difficult games facing Bath and Benetton.

Bristol also know a win would probably take them through if those results also go their way.

A point for La Rochelle, who face Benetton, will be enough to secure their position in the top four, and a win would secure a top-two seeding.

Benetton will qualify with a win, and if they can overtake their opponents - they are three points behind La Rochelle but with a markedly worse points difference - could secure a last-16 home tie, depending on what Bath do.

Bath know a win over Leinster would secure enough points to qualify. However, they can still qualify without picking up any points if results go their way.

Borthwick insists he has not been distracted from the job in hand, and has had no edicts from his embattled bosses regarding either win targets or financial belt-tightening.

"At this point before the start of the tournament why would we not be going into every game aiming to win every game?" Borthwick told BBC Sport.

"It's what every England supporter would expect of me and the players and it's what we expect of ourselves.

"Ever since I have come into this role two years ago I have had nothing but support from the RFU about what we want to do.

"Our focus is about the Six Nations that is coming up, and how we get the performances and results we want to get."

Borthwick stressed all through the autumn that the team was progressing, and improving, and developing their identity, but he has made a big change ahead of the Championship, with Maro Itoje taking over the captaincy from Jamie George.

The reasoning makes sense: Itoje is four years George's junior, walks into the team, and is almost guaranteed to play 80 minutes.

But George is one of the most popular members of the squad and led the side with real class on and off the field. It is a big call.

There will also be strategic shifts.

Former assistant coach Felix Jones joined from South Africa 12 months ago and introduced a Springboks-style blitz defence.

Just when it looked as if it was it bearing fruit, Jones resigned abruptly.

As a consequence, the defence was a mess in the autumn, although Borthwick also referenced how many line-breaks England conceded against New Zealand in the summer, when Jones was in situ.

"To be really clear, we are a line-speed team," Borthwick said.

"I want the team coming off the line and putting the opposition under pressure. Will there be alterations and slight tweaks? Yes. There will be positional things that will be a little bit different."

With the ball, however, Borthwick has promised more of the same.

Having played little rugby in 2023, England opened up in 2024, with Borthwick vowing to persist with an attacking style in 2025.

"This is a team that has evolved over this last year and has continued to evolve," he said.

"I sense what the England supporters want to see is the England team continuing to move the ball and play with pace, because that is what gets them out of their seats."