Lob and Smash podcast: Discussing Rafael Nadal, Simona Halep and Andrey Rublev

There is a lot going on with tennis right now and that is exactly how fans would want it, right? That means there is a lot to discuss. We do some of that on our latest podcast. (If one expects us to discuss literally everything happening in the sport, that person would be disappointed.)

That said, we do go into depth about what we think might be wrong with Rafael Nadal. Nadal hurt his hip in the 2023 Australian Open and then missed the rest of the year after having surgery, but came back to begin 2024. Then he hurt his hip again and did not play until the Netflix Slam at the beginning of March. He looked fine in the exhibition until the very end.

The problem was not his hip, however. Nadal might have hurt his shoulder as his serves at the end of the second set were comparatively extremely slow. Maybe Nadal hurt his back instead. Who knows? We are not doctors but we still take our guesses.

Lob and Smash podcast: Discussing all that is happening in tennis this week

We also discuss Simona Halep's four-year ban which was shortened to nine months this week which means she can play straight away. But what are the issues involved with her comeback? There is a lot more to making a return than simply getting back in form.

Andrey Rublev had a meltdown and was disqualified from a tournament recently but got his rankings points back. What do we think about how the ATP handled this situation compared to how the WTA might have? We talk this out but do we find a solution? You may have to tune in to find out.

Finally, we talk potential Saudi influence in tennis. Will the countries money partly control the game? We have thoughts on this and even more.

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