When you are mentally owned by your arch rival, the shift in dynamic is so drastic that nearly ANY 'real' improvement you make in the physical world from fitness to form to whatever, is incapable of filling the ENTIRE void. It's not a coincidence that all famous or non-famous rivalries, independent of discipline, have turned out the way they eventually did. Once the beast takes hold, it's impossible to shake off.
The daily-repeated spectacle of coming SO close to turning it around is nothing more than an even more emphatic validation of above. That last door is closed shut forever - no matter how close you come to it.
From Frazier to Agassi to Federer to maybe even Nadal, the theme is constant and certain. How many times have you watched the underdog holding match points only to unravel and keep the streak alive? How about earning truck load of break points without success? You think that's just coincidence? Get freaking real.
Nadal may have defeated Djokovic on clay back to back to back last year @ Monte Carlo, Rome and Roland Garros but that happened under a heavy cloud of mitigating condition (grandfather). To make sure that stuck, the very next match on clay was won by Djokovic (2013 Monte Carlo) - in straight sets - exactly a year later. Granted Nadal may not have fully recovered from the break but that may not have been as big a part as is made out to be. I mean, Nadal won a hard court Masters 1000 title just before that.
It's possible that Nadal may NOT have hit the threshold that's irrevocable as is the case with Federer or was with Agassi but everything appears to be coming together right about now for Nadal to PROVE it. Even though Djokovic is not at his best, he lacks as massive a crutch as his grandfather to earn the benefit of doubt second time around.
It could turn out to be the proverbial tipping point releasing a pent up force able to destroy everything in it's path. It's hard to imagine both Djokvoic and Nadal co-existing like Federer and Nadal did before Nadal mastered other surfaces. ONE will take over from here and unleash a stretch not ever witnessed. With Murray left as the only foil then, it's easy to imagine a journey called home free - with an occasional annoyance from the defeated one of the two - independent of the surface.
If, however, Nadal HAS passed that irrevocable station, he will wish for another knee injury to take him out of the misery as the beat down will be embarrassing AND humiliating. Still Nadal may be able to live with that given the ground already covered. For Djokovic, it will hurt - forever. That's like being shown the delicious cake from a distance - with a strict and dire warning to never ever touch it, forget eating it.
Link: Coentrao: "From the first day looks like that I do not want in the Real Madrid"
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