Roger Federer on emotional new doc ‘Twelve Final Days’: ‘I only cried six times’

nypost.com:

Roger Federer’s 2022 retirement at age 41 certainly unleashed a tidal wave of mourning.The Swiss ace — renowned for his graceful movement, easy power and class — dominated courts around the world for more than two decades.So, when the 20-time winner of the four major tournaments put down his racket for good, the mood wasn’t so much the changing of the guard as the death of the king.

For many, Roger Federer was tennis.“It’s been a wild journey,” Federer told the audience at the SVA Theatre in Chelsea. “Twenty-five years of tennis and I’m still standing.”The former worldwide No.

1 added that he originally hired the filmmakers to simply shoot a personal archive of those eventful last days of playing, so he could give the footage to his family as a memento.“It was supposed to be for the vault, for my children one day, for my children’s children,” Federer said onstage. “I always try to keep private private.”But the cagey athlete was eventually convinced to let his fans see the enlightening behind-the-scenes footage that tracks the tense days in the lead-up to his final bow at the Laver Cup in London.“I only cried six times,” he said of watching the movie.Sidelined by persistent knee injuries and botched surgeries, Federer works like mad to get in fine enough shape to make it through one last match.Since directors Asif Kapadia and Joe Sabia’s goal wasn’t journalistic, per se, the emotional result isn’t packed with bombshells or shocks.

And it’s not a step-by-step biography tracking how he went from a ball boy in Basel to the GOAT.Rather, “Twelve Final Days” is a tender, mellow film that delves inside the head of a deeply enigmatic figure as he asks the relatable and terrifying question: “What’s next?”First, we witness Federer.