1) How long were the matches? I don't recall them being over 3,5 hours long.
2) Federer plays fast and the points were shorter
3) He had 2 days off before the final too.
4) Forgot about 2012 Olympics already? It's an almost identical situation for Nadal right now. A 5hour match against Del Potro before playing Djokovic. Federer had nothing left for Murray.
1 - The final was 3h 38m, sf was 3h 05m, 4r was 3h 25m so they were around that mark. But must also remember that HC is harder on the body vs grass. I can attest to this, I've played on the exact plexicushion HC they use at AO and in the heat it is quite taxing, grass not so much.
2 - Agreed, but the total time on court for a 35.5 yr old was 10h and he was still running around like a jack rabbit in that 5th set of the final.
3 - I know he did. I know all too well...
4 - I haven't forgot about the Olympics in 2012 at all. Fed had already won Wimbledon at the time and the accumulation of matches in a short amount of time would have made it harder to recover. Nadal has had a good break from RG till now. In fact this recent match v Del po is the only really taxing match he's had in a while.