Of course he wasn't. He was bloody injured. But the fact that he won the thing despite that points to his level being high. He dropped sets because he was hampered. His level by the semis, and especially the final, was a good deal higher than the shit it was in 2020. Look at his ace count. He has never served better. His returns were stupendous, as we saw in the final. His backhand remained stable as always even though in the earlier rounds post Fritz he struggled to stretch on that wing. His forehand was pristine. His net game was better than it normally is. He won it despite injury because his game didn't crumble and by the time he got used to the injury in the latter rounds, he was comfortably beating players playing at a higher level than at any opponent of his did during AO 20.

In AO 20, a lot of his game broke down. The final was a shitshow. Both their games were erratic and absolutely had no rhythm. His level was lower.

In a hypothetical match, AO 20 final Novak would have been devoured by the one from this year's final, unless the injury flared up.