Djoker isn’t 2011 level so that would be a good start for Nadal but it was weird that he was notches above Rafa on all surfaces so suddenly, coming off a great 2010 from Rafa.
I just hope it won’t be another 2012 slugfest of war of attrition. Some see it as classic but apart from two players pushing themselves to their physical limits it was not great tennis.....as evidenced by the fact that there were too many 20 plus shot rallies, which clearly indicate that they were poor shot-making to allow it to happen. Watch in form Fed or Wawrinka (or even formerly Nalbandian, Safin etc) against anyone, they’d punch through with lots of winners...few rallies were very long but it’s a good mix; who needs to see the woos and ahhs of long point after long point and essentially fans need to sit for six hours to watch similar pattern of rallies.
The level was really high in the 2012 final, just that both players make each other look less exciting due to the matchup. Their movement is incredible and they steal many winners from each other. Look at how aggressive Nadal looks vs players that cannot handle his spin or take away his angles with movement, Rafa looked amazing in SF. Don't expect this to happen when Djokovic starts running down balls and getting them back deep.
To me, the most exciting matches are Djoker vs Fed when they are playing at a high level, Fed plays first strike tennis and forces Nole to be very aggressive, Nole gets very offensive vs Federer. Murray vs Djoker is for me, the most boring matchup, seldom have i seen them play exciting tennis against each other, it's the movement.
It's funny, when Sampras was playing, people complained about the servathons and winners, they wanted more baseline tennis. Now, when they get the long brutal rallies, they want winners. I think we need to appreciate how these two guys look like gods against others but when they face each other, it's such a high level, that neither looks great (some some exceptions of course). Yes, Rafa looked great vs Stan in FO final but that wasn't a challenge, winner and winner, without any competitiveness to it. Now Rafa and Nole have played extremely exciting tennis, especially on clay. The 2013 FO semis was one of the most exciting and high quality matches i have ever seen, they were both hitting impressive winners all match. It's rare though, i will appreciate the match, even when neither lets the other look great.
