tented said:
It will help Novak, but I think Rafa has made it clear what he's capable of these days at Wimbledon. (And I state this as a huge Rafa fan.)
If Nadal had taken that 3rd set tie-breaker over Kyrgios (that Nadal led 5-4), I think Nadal would have won that match.
Nadal looked dispirited after losing that tie-breaker (because Nadal had the better of that set), but would have been pumped if he won it.
Raonic would've been the QF opponent.
Raonic is Nadal's favorite opponent on tour for giving a butt-whipping (they've played 11 sets, and Nadal has broken Raonic's serve in 10 of them (including 6-2 6-2 at Canada last year), and only 2 of those sets were on clay.
So I'm pretty confident about Nadal's chances at Wimbledon next year.
But admittedly the only priority is the Australia Open, so Nadal can become the first player of the open era to win the Double Career Grand Slam.
It would be cool if Nadal meets/beats Federer for a 4th time at the AO.
They're fun matches, and so is Nadal-Djokovic if we want a 6 hour final :idea:
Back on-topic, imagine if Federer had won this US Open.
He would have won it without facing a top 10 player
which is fine, but quite funny and rare.
The point is, don't be surprised if Federer loses in the QF of most slams (except for Wimbledon).
He will probably face tougher QF opponents than Monfils in future.