Ultimately you right, no 1H BH players can deal with Rafa's FH because of the spin and because naturally height + 1HBH = difficulties. But what I mean is Federer has faced heavy lifters, mad clay specialists in his prime and only Nadal (but he's the king at it) caused him so much problem on this particular aspect of his game. Back then, I never saw his backhand as a weakness but Nadal truly exposed that to the world. IMO, it's just mental nowadays. I rewatched Fed's Win against Nadal in the '11 Masters and that's how he needs to play : hitting every ball on the rise, sticking to the baseline and not backing down, constant aggressiveness, hitting inside out forehands every time he can and rushing to the net every time it's possible etc.
I know the court isn't the same and indoor is Rafa's weakness but the Rebound Ace was faster this year.
Not sure if this will work honestly.
Nadal's 2H BH is really underrated, IMO, I think it's even top 10 to the very least. But it's also because every time rallies start to last, Fed's probability to win them decrease (against the top 5 I mean). Only solution for him is to go berserk. He already knows he's losing if he faces Nadal or Djokovic. If he goes full retard and rush the net like he's starving, he may lose but at least he will do so trying to win.
It's sad honestly seeing Federer happy to reach the semi and losing in straight sets. He used to hate losing. But on the real Fed never was a warrior. He always relied on his talent to overcome stuff and he's too confident in his own self to lower himself to go to war. He's a general who stays deep behind the front lines with the confidence to win the battle without shedding blood.
"
