Given that Nadal is now Federer's pigeon away from clay I can't see Roger giving up this opportunity now.
All the disappointment from Wimbledon will have melted away into a massive jolt of energy & determination when Djoker lost to Stan.
In contrast Nadal is just so passive on return, standing so far back. I can see Federer crushing him in 3 sets should they meet in the final.
Federer hasn't had great luck at the USO in recent years, but most of it has been injury related. It's a long way to go for a 38yo towards the end of a season. Still some sloppy play (particularly his serve) that a redlining opponent will be able to take advantage of. I still remember WTF 2017 when he lost to Goffin. No one saw that coming. That said, so far he looks fit and his ball striking is much better than this time last year.
If he gets through Dimitrov & improves in the SF then he may be timing his run beautifully. Still...a long, long way to go. Stan/Medvedev will also give it everything.
Should the two meet here (still amazing it's never happened), it will be interesting to see if Nadal can come up with an answer to Fed's revised game. Fed's strategy is still high risk so it could break down, but Nadal shouldn't count on it.
