Another thing is that, since Nadal's comeback last year, he's won a lot and most important matches; whereas, Nole has seen some really big and bad losses and that made him think that he had much to improve. So since then both of these players have gone in two separate directions. That's how the mind works after all. But now that he has taken a few losses and the AO final being the biggest one since then, it's time for him to turn his mind around into winning mode again. But while he's still No. 1, and a record to chase, it's a tough deal altogether and the fact that, he might be slightly jaded, makes it even harder. But to be fair, all the other players are on the same boat (especially Nole) as they are all playing week in week out as well.
This actually makes me appreciate Sampras so much more when I look back and see how jaded he was after 1999. He won only 2 Slams after that where he used to win 2 Slams each year when he was in peak form. But that 6 years straight at No. 1 was the hardest thing he had to do and it took a lot out of him. And the early competition in his time, where he had to deal with all the legends of all time, made it even tougher since his domination peaked in 1993. But after 1995, he still had to deal with the likes of Rafter, Agassi, Kafelnikov, Muster, Guga, Moya, Corretja, Krajicek, Ivanisevic, Henman and countless others. And then later in his years, he had to deal with Roddick, Safin, Hewitt, Federer etc. It was never easy for him. Lots of respect for this living legend Pistol Pete. Without a doubt that he's the toughest out there to date.