Federer: Twelve Final Days – An Intimate Look at a Tennis Legend

Roger Federer is one of the greatest athletes of all time. He became a professional in 1998. He won 20 grand slams, the main four: Australian Open, Roland Garros, US Open & Wimbledon. Besides all the records and titles, he is one of the most influential tennis players ever. Roger is considered by his peers the best to step on a court. Following the days before his retirement until the last game of his career at the Laver Cup, Federer: Twelve Final Days is an intimate recording of the last moments of a legendary career.

Previously intended as footage only for his family, the close recording became a full-length documentary by Asif Kapadia & Joe Sabia. The first, known for his documentary work on legendary figures, in such films as Senna (2010), the Academy Award-winning Amy (2015), and Diego Maradona (2019), Federer marks the first time he directed a film about a living person. Alongside this responsibility, Kapadia drifts away from his typical style, combining archival footage with voiceover to edit the film. While some of that style remains here, its main focus is those final days of Federer’s career.

Providing clips to give some insight into the biggest personalities in tennis as well as Federer and his career, Twelve Final Days will likely resonate more with fans of the sport. Either way, it is pretty emotional to see legends like John McEnroe, Rod Laver, and Bjorn Borg come together to pay homage to one of the sport’s most significant icons; some consider him the biggest. Meanwhile, the Big Four, a group composed the top 4 tennis players of the 2000s composed of Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, and Federer also played a major role in the narrative.

Another major bet the directors make was to lean heavily on the emotion surrounding Federer’s final tournament. Audiences that are unfamiliar with the film’s subjects or subject matter, and their importance, it may not quite have the same impact, but those with knowledge of the game of tennis and Federer’s role in modern tennis are more inclined to be hugely moved by the film. On top of that Oscar-winner Dario Marinelli’s score serves as an emotional thread for the narrative. He provides an effort that grows in the exact moments it has to. In particular, the score playing over the tiebreak between Team World Vs. Team Europe in Federer’s last game is a vibrant and touching piece of music that touches on a very emotional moment.

Directors Kapadia and Sabia tackle the rivalry between the generational talents of Federer, Djokovic, and Nadal in a way that respects their legacies. These three geniuses were privileged to work in the same era and participate in historical battles that marked another exciting chapter in their sport’s history. The editing and archival research behind depicting their dynamic are highly effective, going back to how these rivalries started and including a few crucial games between them up until the last doubles games between Rafa and Roger at the Laver Cup.

Besides not being the typical Asif Kapadia documentary, Federer: Twelve Final Days provides an intimate look into the retirement of a tennis legend. Using Joe Sabia’s great emotional footage of the last moments and Kapadia’s tremendous archival work, they deliver a beautiful film for fans of Roger Federer and tennis that may be limiting to those without knowledge of him or the sport. That being said, it could very well bring in new fans looking to learn about the legends that made the rich sport of tennis.

still courtesy of Prime Video

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Pedro Lima

Brazilian film writer. He is also a producer and executive producer for Zariah Filmes. Member of the International Film Society Critics Association (IFSCA), International Documentary Association (IDA), and Gotham and Media Film Institute.