For those of us who have followed the Swiss great’s every movement during his long career, a new documentary offers some hidden gems. If tennis were a country unto itself, with physical borders and a uniting flag, it would feature Roger Federer’s bandanaed profile on the banknotes. Over the past two decades, the Swiss maestro has been the closest thing in sport to a true sovereign. Federer projected soft power with aristocratic dress and polyglot speech, backed by an arsenal of mind-bending on-court majesty that routinely tipped into the divine.
Roger Federer- Filming a Legend’s Farewell
Even Roger Federer’s taped retirement message – delivered in September 2022 from his Basel office against a display case of his 103 career titles – played like a president’s fireside chat. The significance of that moment might well have been lost on Joe Sabia if he hadn’t lucked into the job of filming it for posterity. “I hadn’t really watched much of Federer when I met him in 2019,” says Sabia, a non-tennis fan who first interviewed Federer for a viral web series he created for Vogue called 73 Questions.
Collaboration with Asif Kapadia
Sabia co-directed the film, his first full-length feature, with Asif Kapadia, the BAFTA and Oscar winner behind Senna, Amy, and Diego Maradona. Kapadia jokes that he is counting on this new doc to salvage his reputation for making downer movies. “One of the good things about this film is that there is a death, yeah, but it’s the death of an athlete’s career. They die twice, and this is us covering the first one.”
Sabia conceived and executed most of the film before Kapadia was brought in to help carry it over the line. “We did not meet until the day the film premiered in Tribeca,” Kapadia says. It was important to Federer for this film to be a breakout for Sabia. “Roger said, ‘I need this for Joe to be at least the co-director on this film because I want this to be a moment for him,’” Sabia recalls.
The Documented Moments
To the casual observer, Kapadia and Sabia’s film might seem ordinary – dull, even. This isn’t Kobe Doin’ Work. This is a 40-year-old father of four retiring before playing in the Laver Cup, an essentially meaningless exhibition tournament. But for those who have spent decades analyzing Federer, Kapadia and Sabia’s doc is the most satisfying morsel of maestro content since David Foster Wallace’s Roger Federer as Religious Experience.
Among the revelations in Twelve Days: Federer messed up his right knee, the joint that precipitated his retirement, while drawing a bath for his kids. We visit with his wife, Mirka, who has said almost nothing to the media for 20 years. Here, she waxes nostalgic on life on tour with four small kids. “When she said, ‘Yes, I’ll do it,’” Sabia recalls, “everyone in the room went, ‘Whoa!’”
Reflections on Rivalries and Relationships
We hear Roger Federer offer reflections on his personal rivalry with Novak Djokovic, adding that much of the perceived enmity was whipped up by his fans. But that line becomes a much tougher sell when Djokovic shows up to a London hotel lobby before a fancy Laver Cup dinner, informs his fellow players they’re all wearing the wrong dress shirt, and Federer changes in front of everyone. “It’s still this weird competition between them,” Kapadia says, “like kids in a school playground even though they’re guys with private jets.”
A Unique Perspective on Federer’s Career
Twelve Days could have taken in the full sweep of Federer’s career but chose a hyper-focused approach. This allowed Sabia to play to his strengths and fill in textures most important to tennis fans: the US Open ballboy smirking when Federer hits a tweener past Djokovic, the sound of Roger Federer’s racquet striking the ball in slow motion. “I’m just grateful we have a project that doesn’t need to be so hyped up,” Sabia says. “It can just be very realistic.”
The Tension of a Final Farewell
The tension in the Roger Federer doc lies in what is still to play out. The closer Roger Federer comes to parting company with Nadal, Djokovic, and Murray at the Laver Cup, the more it hits you that this could be the last time tennis’ big four will compete together. Repeatedly, Federer says he hopes to keep a hand in the game, but who knows where life takes him and his peers.
In the fullness of time, Twelve Days will only become more resonant as Nadal, Murray, and Djokovic say their goodbyes. “There’s a lot in here,” Kapadia says of his film. “It’s just subtle. And it needs a little thinking about because it’s a small film about big people.”
Federer: Twelve Final Days is now streaming on Prime Video.
