psychological edge? you make it sound as if Federer has never beaten him after that match. Federer beat him twice on clay after that match.
Yeah it's funny that fed fans don't see this. They always have to pick A MOMENT(rome 2006, RG 07,wimbledon 2008) as if Fed was doing dandy in his h2h with Nadal and he missed THAT ONE MOMENT where he could have turned it around mentally or THAT ONE MOMENT where he succumbed mentally to Nadal.
They should face facts. Nadal does not match up well against Fed GAMEWISE(beat him on every surface except carpet and indoors) and Fed has actually shown tremendous MENTAL fortitude many times against Nadal(it's just that he has game issues with him):
*after getting straight setted in Miami 2004 as nr.1 by the then nr. 50 in the world, he comes back from two sets down in Miami 05' and wins in five against Nadal, with a breadstick in the last set.
*has extremely close matches(for anyone who watched them, not just scoreline) with Nadal ON CLAY(where the rest were getting murdered by Rafa) in 2006, in Monaco and Rome, even though he lost both of them.
*despite losing 5 straight matches against Nadal(4 on clay), he beats Nadal in WB 06', with a bagel in the first set. Also breadsticked Nadal in the first set of RG 06' final.
*beats him again in Shaghai 06' straight sets.
*beats Nadal ON CLAY, with a bagel no less, in Hamburg 2007.
*puts on a very strong showing in the RG 07' final but loses in four.
*holds off a very strong Nadal who had chances in the fifth to win WB 2007.
*routines Rafa in Shanghai 2007
*almost makes a comeback from two sets down to win WB 08' but falls just short.
*beats Nadal ON CLAY in Madrid 2009.
Boy, Federer sure seems to hold off Nadal a lot despite the fact that "Nadal is in his mind". The only real dud imo is AO 2009, where Fed put his foot in his mouth at crucial times. Sure, some will say Rome 2006(where he had 3-0 in the fifth) but I give you Miami 2005 which was a couple of points away from Nadal in the third set tiebreak so I could say that Nadal is just as scared of Fed as Fed is of him with this kind of reasoning.
In fact Federer held off Nadal quite well IMO. He delayed a Nadal rise on grass by two years. Remember, Nadal got a set even in 2006 WB final. Federer could have lost WB 2007 just as he could have won AO 2009. All it takes is a couple of points here and there.