“Federer: Twelve Final Days,” directed by Asif Kapadia and Joe Sabia, has no compelling story lines, no dramas, no conflicts. The film wasn’t designed that way. The original plan was for it to be a sort of high-production-values home movie for the tennis great to share with his family and friends on the occasion of his 2022 retirement from the game of tennis. It grew into something bigger than that, which isn’t to say it’s for everyone. Outside of avid tennis fans, the film would probably strike most viewers as little more than a cross between a valediction for legendary sports career and a carefully-managed promo for the Federer brand, which is already so solid that Switzerland minted his face on a coin.
Twelve Final Days isn’t one of them, but there are sports documentaries that transcend their subject matter. When We Were Kings, a 1996 film that explored the 1974 “Rumble in the Jungle” heavyweight championship fight between Muhammed Ali and George Foreman, comes to mind. There’s no need to be able to distinguish a left jab from a right cross to get caught up in the drama centered around two great athletes fighting in Africa. That was a loud roar of a film, while Twelve Final Days is a soft-voiced, reflective coda to one of the greatest careers in the history of sports.
One viewpoint that all viewers will share after watching this film—regardless of their interest in tennis—is that Roger Federer is a very likable fellow with class and dignity. Tennis has often been called a “gentleman’s game,” and no greater gentleman has ever picked up a racquet; an old-school European gentleman who’s able to conduct press conferences in four languages.
Roger Federer has been called dull, because of his perfect “driving record,” but this film belies that notion. While not flashy, he’s a smart individual who was once voted the second most admired person in the world, after Nelson Mandela. One of the tidbits Federer revealed here was that people had often asked him why he didn’t fight harder when he was losing. By that they were referring to the in-your-face histrionics of tennis bad boys like John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors. Federer said he’d tried that, but it wasn’t in his DNA. A scour of YouTube backs that up. It’s difficult to find film clips of the Swiss star acting up during a 24-year career, which makes it exciting when they can be found. It’s like watching Mr. Rogers lose his cool.
The film begins with intimate behind-the-scenes views of Federer interacting with his family and close circle of friends as he plans the announcement of his retirement that was forced because of a bum knee requiring four brutal operations. Federer’s a family man. His warm interactions with his wife Mirka and his two sets of twins are a reminder of how long the tennis great traveled with his family as he went from tournament to tournament on the pro tennis tour. They were almost always there in the “player’s box” during tournaments during the second half of his career, which must’ve made a significant contribution to his career haul of 20 major titles. Aussie player, Nick Kyrgios, an elite athlete who has as much raw talent as Federer, can’t crack into the Grand Slam title-holder club, mostly because he hates being on the road, far away from everyone he cares for. That human quality has landed him in bars on the night before a match, which doesn’t work in the modern game of tennis.
Following the family segment, the action moves to the Laver Cup tournament in London that Federer chose for his last competitive appearance, teamed up for one doubles match with his archrival/good buddy Rafael Nadal. It’s a team tournament and mostly an exhibition event, making it the perfect choice for a three-day goodbye party. Novak Djokovic’s there, as are Andy Murray and a handful of younger European players. John McEnroe and Rod Laver are also in attendance in emeritus roles.
In between scenes from the tennis venue the directors have inserted some archival footage There’s a good sequence, spliced together from past tournaments, highlighting the unparalleled beauty and elegance of Federer’s movement and tennis strokes on the court that’s gotten him all the comparisons to Baryshnikov. From this point on, many tears are shed, not just by Federer, who’s known for crying. He says right at the beginning of the film, “I’m an emotional guy.” Whatever tension exists in Twelve Final Days involves whether or not the tennis champ can maintain his composure as emotional moment after emotional moment comes at him as he heads towards his final tennis match, and afterwards as he struggles to process what’s just happened, and what’s to come.
While this film isn’t particularly remarkable or groundbreaking, it’s notable in that it doesn’t shy away from highlighting an athlete at the highest level who’s not afraid to show his vulnerability and emotions. Few tennis fans will ever forget watching him weep after losing in five sets the finals of the 2009 Australian Open to Rafael Nadal, and then being unable to give his runner-up speech.
Serious sports fans want a peek behind the curtain. They want to see things like the athletes they follow hanging out with each other in places like the locker room, but such opportunities are few and far between. At the end of this film, the camera catches Federer saying that he thinks that locker room is a much more fun place to hang out than it was when he was a young pro, partially because of the way he conducted himself there. He’s revealing the interpersonal part of his multi-faceted tennis experience is something he treasured, and will miss badly. Tennis is one of the few sports in which the competitors share a locker room, and it produces a unique camaraderie that people like Federer thrive on.
The final impression this film leaves is that Roger Federer loves the game of tennis more than any other player ever has. The many interested in seeing him remain in the tennis world should have no worries. He’s hanging up his racquet, but he’s not going far away, as he spelled out at the end of the Laver Cup when he said, “To the game of tennis, I love you and will never leave you.”
