NAS
Hall of Fame
Curfew rule helped Rafa lol.An 11pm curfew agreement with the local council (i.e. Merton). Although even there Wimbledon broke the rule that day, going to 11:03pm (I think) so that the third set tiebreak could be completed. Nadal had missed set points, and Djokovic took a 2-1 sets lead instead.
What helped Rafa?
Rafa was down 2-1 and with five set five hour previous match and three hour currently, he was not going to survive the same day.
Even if he somehow wins the fourth set he was going to done and dusted for the fifth.
Curfew rule helped him big time, he was allowed to relax and come back next day with big energy.
Just see AO 18 he faced tough four setter against Diego with lot of grinding, he was injured against Cillic in fifth set.
Same thing happened to him in us open 18 also, Karen brutal match took toll on his body and Theim five setter nearly finished him and he can't even survive two set against Delpo
There is also a history between Novak and Rafa in five set matches, usually the person who take two set lead or 2-1 lead always wins in four not a single time opposite have happened till now and before that only two time their match went into five set, AO 12 where Novak botched the fourth set and RG 13 where Rafa botched the fourth set.
Mentally the 2-0 or 2-1 set looser player know it will be a huge grinding fest and he mentally breaks down in this special match up.
If match was going to complete like other slam rules or normal rules, Novak would have finished him in four or most probably blowout fifth setset.
So one rule helped Novak other helped Rafa by giving him breather without any reason.
How would have you reacted if Us Open 13 match was suspended without any external circumstances when Rafa was leadin 2-1 and Novak was loosing his energy reserve ( he also played tough five setter in semi) , allowing Novak to come back mentally strong next day