SEPT 20 - 22, 2024 | BERLIN
Shortly before the start of Laver Cup London 2022 at The O2, 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer announced his decision to retire from professional tennis after a celebrated 25-year career spanning 1,500 matches. It was one of the most closely-guarded retirements in sports history.
“To my tennis family and beyond, today I want to share some news with all of you,” he begins in a heartfelt farewell recorded during the making of Federer: Twelve Final Days, directed by Academy Award-winning Asif Kapadia and Joe Sabia, which is set to stream exclusively on Prime Video from June 20, 2024.
“As many of you know the past three years have presented me with challenges in the form of injuries and surgeries. I’ve worked hard to return to full competitive form, but I also know my body’s capacities and limits, and it’s message to me lately has been clear …
“I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart, to everyone around the world who has helped make the dreams of a young Swiss ball kid come true,” Federer says. “Finally, to the game of tennis, I love you, and will never leave you.”
Private moments of reflection surrounded by loved ones and Federer’s preparation ahead of his last professional match at the Laver Cup, are poignantly captured in the documentary.
“The Alps are shedding a tear for the end of one of the greatest sporting careers in history but certainly a new beginning,” Federer’s agent, Tony Godsick, tells one of the tennis great’s closest friends, Vogue editor Anna Wintour, as the news breaks on a rainy day in Zurich.
“He’s really at peace with the decision.”
The documentary chronicles Federer’s extraordinary career, love of tennis, and the decision to retire at the Laver Cup supported by many of his greatest rivals and heroes.
“By chance, it happens that the Laver Cup is now here in London; so I just I felt it would be quite appropriate to retire in a city like London,” says Federer, whose major tally included eight Wimbledon singles titles.
Twelve Final Days takes viewers behind the scenes at the now historic fifth edition of the Laver Cup, where the Swiss Maestro joined Rafael Nadal , Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Casper Ruud, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Matteo Berrettini and Cameron Norrie on Team Europe, captained by Bjorn Borg.
“I will miss this, I will miss the game of tennis,” Federer muses across exclusive footage of Team Europe preparing to visit London Bridge. “I guess you could almost call it a bit of grieving you know. It’s been a great life school for me … as professional athletes, we all know we’re on borrowed time.
Cameras delve closely into Federer’s interactions with his rivals and teammates, interweaving the sporting icon’s emotional departure from tennis with slomo footage from famous matches, as well as his progression from junior champion to world champion.
“He’s one of the most – if not the most – important players in the history of this sport,” states Nadal during a packed Team Europe press conference at The O2.
Federer played his final match partnering with Rafael Nadal, who was one of the first to hear about Federer’s decision to retire. “I just wanted to let him know that I would love to play one more doubles with him, and I’m retiring,” Roger reveals. “And the moment I said that to him, he said, ‘I am going to be there 100%’.”
Noted Andy Murray: “It feels right seeing him and Rafa on the same side of the net together, and finishing their careers as a team – I don’t think there’s many better ways to go out than like this.”
Federer: Twelve Final Days premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, New York, on June 10 and at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square, London, on June 13 to widespread acclaim.
Sabia first interviewed Federer in 2019 for Vogue’s 73 Questions, and was asked if he would create a home video of the tennis great’s retirement. “He’s a private guy,” Sabia told CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour. “So I think there were reservations. The opportunity arose to go to Roger’s home for the first time, capture his children for the first time, interview his wife, Mirka, for the first time in 20 years.
“I definitely agreed that this should be something that’s private, it should never see the light of day. And that gave Roger the comfort to allow me, another cameraman and a sound guy to capture it all.”
Kapadia, who directed the sports documentaries “Senna” and “Diego Maradona”, joined the project when it became clear that a feature-length portrait of a 41-year-old sporting icon facing retirement deserved a global audience.
“It’s very layered and complex and dealing with big issues about family, life, retirement, death and closure — closure on a huge point of your life, friendships and relationships,” Kapadia told Variety.
Always the perfectionist, Federer trained hard for his last hurrah at Laver Cup London, and worried that he might not meet expectations
“The world will be watching, and I want to be able to produce something that’s good enough for that.” Despite holding a match point, he and Nadal lost the doubles to Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe in a knife-edge 10-point tiebreaker.
What followed was an outpouring of emotion unrivaled in tennis as family, tennis greats, and fans wept and cheered for a man universally loved and appreciated beyond sport.
“Yes, it’s painful, yes it’s hard, but I am happy,” says Federer.
“What an amazing evening. We are all very lucky to have lived through it, and I’ve cried altogether with 16 and a half thousand people. That was truly unique.”
Federer played a key role in creating the Laver Cup, borne out of his desire to honor Rod Laver, winner of two calendar-year Grand Slams and 11 majors in singles.
He played four editions of the Laver Cup with Team Europe, winning three of those campaigns against Team World in Prague (2017), Chicago (2018) and Geneva (2019).
His final appearance as a player in London saw the historic reunion of the ‘Big Four’, who at the time had lifted 66 Grand Slam trophies between them and 329 tour-level crowns. In the final moments of 12 Final Days, Federer embraces them one-by-one: Murray, Djokovic and Nadal.
Seeing all the other players, that was hard. It was so emotional. Their whole career, I’ve been there.
