US Open finalist Jessica Pegula marked her return from injury with a dominant win over Maria Sakkari at the Adelaide International.

The American top seed took just 73 minutes to claim a 6-4 6-1 win over Greece's Sakkari and move into the quarter-finals of the WTA 500 event.

It was Pegula's first match since she withdrew from the WTA Finals in November with a knee injury.

Pegula reached her first major singles final at September's US Open, where she fell to a straight-set defeat by Aryna Sabalenka.

She will enter the Australian Open, which starts on Sunday, as the seventh seed in the women's singles.

"It's always tough getting the first win of the year, you don't know what to expect," Pegula said.

"But it's good heading into Melbourne next week. My focus is on doing well here first.

"It's fun to problem-solve on court and have a good attitude to start the year."

The 30-year-old will face compatriot Ashlyn Krueger, who beat Spain's Paula Badosa, in the last eight on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Marketa Vondrousova's involvement in the Australian Open has been thrown into doubt after she retired injured from her match against Diana Shnaider.

The 2023 Wimbledon champion, playing in just her second match since undergoing shoulder surgery in August, was leading 6-4 1-1 before tearfully ending the match early.

Tunisia's Ons Jabeur, a two-time Wimbledon finalist, missed out on a place in the quarter-finals as she suffered a 6-2 6-4 defeat by Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva.

In the men's event in Adelaide, Canada's fifth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime fought back to beat France's Arthur Cazaux 1-6 6-4 7-5, while top seed Tommy Paul moved past French lucky loser Manuel Guinard 6-4 3-6 6-3.

Nick Kyrgios says the abdominal strain that has forced him to withdraw from an exhibition match is "not too serious" and he is doing everything he can to be fit for the Australian Open.

The 29-year-old was scheduled to play in the exhibition alongside Novak Djokovic on Thursday but he wrote on Instagram an ultrasound had revealed a grade one strain.

He played his first singles match in 18 months last week at the Brisbane International but said afterwards the first-round defeat had left him in "throbbing" pain.

However, speaking to Australia's 7News, external on Wednesday, Kyrgios said he "knows his body" and will take precautions so he can appear at the first Grand Slam of the year, which starts in Melbourne on Sunday.

"I've still got five days up my sleeve," said Kyrgios.

"I'm probably not going to serve for the next couple of days, I've got a couple of practices scheduled and I'll do everything I can.

"It's not too serious. I'll just take it day by day and give myself the best chance."

Great Britain's Harriet Dart and Billy Harris have reached the final round of qualifying for the Australian Open, but Heather Watson and Fran Jones were beaten at Melbourne Park.

Third seed Dart, who has recently slipped out of the world's top 100, fought back to beat Australian teenager Taylah Preston 6-7 (7-9) 6-1 6-2.

Harris, meanwhile, needed just 70 minutes to race past Spain's Carlos Taberner 6-1 6-2.

Dart and Harris are the last Britons standing in qualifying after Jones suffered a grueling 4-6 7-6 (15-13) 6-3 defeat by Switzerland's Jil Teichmann and Watson lost 3-6 6-3 6-1 to American Varvara Lepchenko.

Dart will face Japan's Nao Hibino on Thursday, while Harris, who made his Grand Slam main-draw debut at Wimbledon last year, will play Poland's Kamil Majchrzak.

Players must win three qualifying matches to reach the main draw of the tournament, which begins on Sunday.

Katie Boulter, Emma Raducanu, Sonay Kartal, Jodie Burrage, Jack Draper, Cameron Norrie and Jacob Fearnley all have direct entry into the main singles draw.

Meanwhile, Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca moved one step closer to reaching the main draw of a major for the first time with a 53-minute 6-0 6-3 win over Coleman Wong.

Fonseca, 18, established himself as one of tennis' rising stars by becoming the second-youngest winner of the Next Gen ATP Finals in December.

Novak Djokovic targeting Australian Open glory is nothing new - but there will be one major difference this time around as great rival Andy Murray joins his team.

The 37-year-old Serb, who is chasing a record 25th Grand Slam singles title, announced the surprise appointment of long-time friend Murray in November.

Djokovic shared countless memorable moments and numerous battles for the sport's biggest prizes with Britain's three-time major winner Murray, who retired from tennis last year.

It is perhaps unsurprising that Djokovic - level with Australian Margaret Court for the most major singles titles in history - has credited Murray with "bringing a fresh look" to his tennis, given few know his game so intimately.

Here are the standout moments which defined their epic rivalry.

Wales have major Six Nations hooker concerns with Ryan Elias a fitness doubt for the start of the tournament because of a neck injury.

Wales captain and Ospreys hooker Dewi Lake has already been ruled out for most of the tournament because of a bicep injury and there are growing concerns about Elias' fitness.

Elias, 30, has not played for Scarlets since the end of November and will miss the Challenge Cup match against Gloucester on Friday, 10 January and is set to be absent for the visit of French side Vannes eight days later.

"He won't be right this week," said Scarlets head coach Dwayne Peel.

"He has a neck/shoulder issue. He took some part in training today which is good to see but won't be ready for this week and probably won't be back next week."

Wales open their Six Nations campaign against France in Paris on Friday, 31 January with head coach Warren Gatland naming his squad next Monday.

Wales have lost 12 successive internationals with the previous Test victory coming against Georgia in October 2023 in the Rugby World Cup.

Feyi-Waboso's injury is one of the first for an England player since new contracts were brought in between the Rugby Football Union and Premiership clubs.

The winger is on an enhanced elite player squad contract, giving England the final say on when he plays and greater influence on medical matters under the new eight-year Professional Game Partnership between the RFU and top-tier clubs.

Baxter says the decision on whether to operate or not is slower than it would have been had it been down solely to England.

"I think it certainly would have happened quicker, without doubt," he said.

"We had things booked, ready to go, decisions ready to be made a week ago. The process you have to go through now has certainly slowed things down.

"That doesn't mean, necessarily, that it's wrong, but it certainly slows things down."

Club and country team-mate Henry Slade played through a shoulder injury last season, opting to have an operation after it worsened during England's summer tour of New Zealand.

Feyi-Waboso's absence for at least the opening rounds of the Six Nations leaves England looking at alternatives in the back three with full-back George Furbank still recovering from a broken arm that is likely to rule him out of their tournament opener against Ireland at least.

Northampton's Ollie Sleightholme, who started against South Africa and Japan in the autumn after Feyi-Waboso suffered a concussion, could step in once again, with Sale's Tom Roebuck and Harlequins' Cadan Murley, who scored two tries in England A's win over second-string Australia side in November, also in contention.

Bristol's Gabriel Ibitoye, who is joint top of the Premiership's try-scoring charts, is out of action with a leg injury.

Feyi-Waboso, who was nominated as World Rugby's breakthrough player of 2024, has scored five tries in eight Tests since making his England debut as a replacement against Italy last February.

The former Wales age-grade international, who was born in Cardiff but qualifies for England through family ties, has been touted for selection for the British and Irish Lions tour to Australia this summer.

Gloucester have apologised for the use of a Russian flag on prop Kirill Gotovtsev's club shirt and said it will no longer be featured going forward.

Since 2015, the club has included national flags on the Premiership shirts of any player who has been internationally capped.

But a Gloucester statement on Wednesday said that following "internal discussion and Kirill's blessing" the Russian flag will no longer appear on 37-year-old Gotovtsev's shirt, while other nations will continue to be recognised.

Russia has been banned from international and cross-border competition by World Rugby since 2022 following the country's invasion of Ukraine.

"We remain entirely supportive of World Rugby's 2022 sanction regarding the conflict in Ukraine," the club statement, external said.

"Kirill fully co-operated with the requirements of World Rugby and DCMS [Department for Culture, Media and Sport] at that time and continues to do so.

"Kirill's national flag will not appear on his shirt in line with the sanctions. We understand the connotations of the flag in question and apologise for any offence this may have caused."

When it first opened its London office in 2019, Roc Nation Sports International had no intention of moving into rugby.

However, intrigued by the commotion around England's run in the tournament, a curious Yormark watched that year's Rugby World Cup final in the back of an executive car on the way north to meet Manchester City midfielder and Roc Nation client Kevin de Bruyne.

Yormark heard a victorious Kolisi speak about the relationship between South Africa and the Springboks. He read about Kolisi's township upbringing, when the future flanker's favourite toy was a brick. He was convinced. A few weeks later, Kolisi had signed with Roc Nation.

Roc Nation uses star power from other parts of their business to shine a light on such stories: Kolisi has hung out with NBA legend Kevin Durant, while Itoje has spent time with superstar producer DJ Khaled at his Miami home.

Convincing rugby's stars to promote themselves as aggressively as artists in other arenas, though, has proved a challenge.

It often falls to Paul Adesoye. Roc Nation's head of rugby has to overcome an ingrained culture that prioritises the dressing-room collective above individual empire building, even if the example of United States sevens player and social media superstar Ilona Maher has changed perspectives.

"Over here the guys are a little bit more reticent about doing it," said Adesoye. "To be honest, they are a bit nervous about the reaction of their team-mates and their clubs as well. But it is slowly changing.

"Danny Care has launched a vlog and done a podcast - granted he is towards the end of his career, but it is becoming more common in the sport.

"I think it will eventually go in the direction of how it has in the United States where you have current NBA players doing podcasts during the season, telling their story first-hand. It is a matter of time."

Whether it will be in time for rugby's big push west, though, is the question.