I had to re-watch the entire fifth set, and my impression is slightly different from before. Both Roger and Rafa were playing very, very well - and, in some ways, typical of their strengths. Roger was creating a ton of breakpoints with incredible shot-making, but Rafa was coming up with his signature incredible shots at the most crucial moments.
Now after Rafa broke Roger to start the set, rather than Roger collapsing he kept steady and put the pressure on Rafa, winning most of his service games relatively easily, while creating a ton of break opportunities. The 6th game was, of course, the turning point and it really looked like Rafa was going to drive the point home on the way to victory. But Roger kept pressing, and eventually Rafa hit that ball wide, evening up at 3-3. When Roger held quite easily to go up 4-3, and then went up 40-0 on Rafa's service game, it looked like the wind had been knocked out of Rafa. But Rafa did what he does best: he came back.
So the pivotal games were the 6th, when Roger broke back, and then the 8th, when he broke Rafa again. In both cases, Roger did something he hadn't really been able to do against Rafa, at least for years: he fought on and found a way to beat him his own way. He stayed to his game plan, being both aggressive and varying his shots. That fifth set, especially after the first game, was really Roger at his finest. We've seen Roger play this way before, but not against Rafa - at least in the last decade or so.
