great post as usual general masterclass
one thing about Rafa: he has had moments like this before to deal with. moments where he pretty much had to stop the slide and to also hold on to his strongholds.
he did that in hamburg as you will recall many moons ago.
he has also held back nole no less than 5 times at RG. and then he has that record in the finals at RG. he will have a huge mental edge going into that final.
but first things first as you have suggested: he has to get through the first few rounds and start to hit his normal stride.