He was the best tennis player in the world, probably no one was as revered as he was: Roger Federer ended his career in September 2022. Now a documentary describes his last twelve days as a professional – with his family and his favorite rival.
At the end, Mirka Federer sits there, angelic in a white blouse on a white sofa, and thinks about what she will miss now that her husband has ended his career. “I will miss him,” she says and laughs, but then she stops and tears come to her eyes. “I will miss seeing him play tennis,” she then says. “Simply because he played so gracefully. So unbelievable. And I think people will feel the same way.”
Sob, yes!
Of course, he is missing, Roger Federer, the greatest tennis star of the past two decades. He called it quits in 2022, playing one last doubles match with his favorite rival and good friend Rafael Nadal at the Laver Cup. Mirka Federer has never spoken much about her husband, publicly, but now there is the documentary “Federer – Twelve Final Days” by Oscar winner Asif Kapadia (“Senna”, “Amy”). It documents Federer’s last twelve days as a professional; from the moment he reads out a letter addressed “to my tennis family and beyond”. He wrote it to announce his departure. Two days later, the spoken letter is uploaded to Instagram. Mirka Federer is with her husband when the post goes live. “I got it first!” she says happily, looking at her smartphone.
Available on Amazon Prime from June 20th: “Federer – Twelve Final Days”
© Amazon / Courtesy Everett Collection
Everyone around him looks at Federer’s career with awe
Roger Federer has his inner circle gathered, his wife, his parents, Severin Lüthi, his long-time coach, Tony Godsick, his long-time agent and his wife, the former tennis player Mary Joe Fernandez. Everyone around him looks at Federer’s career, which is coming to an end at this moment, with such awe that you get an idea of why he has become the greatest. Because of his incredible talent, but also because of the people who have constantly accompanied him. And who always appreciated what they had in him, because he appreciated what he had in them. “Minka, my wife. She could have stopped me years ago, but she kept me going and allowed me to play. That’s fantastic,” he said after his last game, sobbing, because Federer is “an emotional guy,” as he says. And that’s another reason why people always liked him.
Cheering after his Wimbledon victory in 2017: Federer’s wife Mirka (right) with their twins Myla and Charlene, then seven, and Leo and Lenny, then three. In the middle is his mother Lynette.
© Tim Clayton / Getty Images
Federer was not someone who shouted at the referee when things weren’t going well for him. Federer was someone who cried when he lost. Like in 2009 in the final of the Australian Open, where he lost to Rafael Nadal. “Oh God, it’s killing me,” he burst out when he was asked to say a few words at the awards ceremony. Nadal hugged him; a bond had long since developed between the two that is unusual for such great rivals. Both could break records and they did break them – except in that final, where Federer wanted to equal Pete Sampras’ 14 Grand Slam titles (which he later managed, of course).
Federer looks like the next James Bond in a tuxedo
The duel between the two electrified the tennis world. The smart, sophisticated Swiss against the Spaniard, who spoke in funny English about his “village” on Mallorca. They seemed so different, but there was something that united them – their down-to-earth nature. Despite all the uniqueness that was constantly suggested to them, both remained relatively normal. Nadal traveled with his uncle Toni, Federer often had his parents with him. Both have been with their partners for ages, Federer with Mirka, with whom he had twins twice, first girls, then boys, both identical; Federer is evidently also exceptional at fathering children. Of course, he looks like the next James Bond in his tuxedo, while Nadal looks more like he’s in disguise. This was nice to see at the Laver Cup, where Federer took a selfie of himself, Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray on the evening before the tournament began; all four on their way to a gala, accompanied by the camera that is filming Federer’s documentary.
Of course, there are flashbacks to Federer’s tennis life, such as when he lay on Centre Court after his first Wimbledon victory in 2001 against Pete Sampras. But the film is particularly strong in the present, when Federer tells what it was like when he started having knee operations (“I always thought operations were the beginning of the end, and I was right”). How hard it was for Mirka and his parents to see “that I was no longer going to be the best”. And how three of his “kiddies” cried when he told them about his “retirement”.
He wraps the grip tape around his racket one more time: Roger Federer before his last game at the Laver Cup.
© Amazon / Courtesy Everett Collection
It is incredibly touching how the men at the Laver Cup are celebrating Roger Federer once again. How respectfully, even admiringly, everyone speaks of him. He has “never seen anyone play tennis more beautifully,” says John McEnroe, who is there as team captain. Federer is “an artist on the court,” says Björn Borg. He had tears in his eyes when Federer told him he was quitting, says Rafael Nadal. “The most important player of my career is leaving.” He believes, says Roger Federer, that “there is much more respect for one another among the younger players today, thanks to me and Rafa.”
The two of them have lived something that has carried them beyond their time. This was seen again at the French Open in Paris: the city’s old advertising pillars were not decorated with pictures of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, but with those of Federer and Nadal, who have recently been jointly promoting Louis Vuitton backpacks, photographed by Annie Liebovitz. In the film, you get very close to Federer when he puts on his bandana again at the Laver Cup and goes onto the court. His mother strokes his cheek, his daughters have moist eyes, but no one looks as sad as Rafael Nadal. The way he sits on the bench with Federer after the match, both sobbing, one hand on the other – no director could have imagined that. Epic!
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2024-06-19 19:52:00
#Documentary #Roger #Federer #career
