By Miguel Mike Medina
Photo: Kate Green/Getty Images
Roger Federer has won over 20 grand slam titles throughout his professional tennis career. His documentary, Federer: Twelve Finals Days, chronicles the last 12 days of his career.
During the scenes, Federer shares his retirement tour with the viewers by showing how he spent those last days with his family, friends, and former competitors.
The documentary is on Amazon Prime. Federer was an outstanding player, but he also seemed to be a genuine, humble human being. He’s very emotional, and you can see often in this documentary where he sheds tears during the press conference when Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, and Novak Djokovic all spoke highly of him and how much the game of Tennis will miss him.
All of them were fierce competitors and rivals of Federer, but off the court, they were friendly and respectful towards one another. All of them were sad to see Federer retire, but they are grateful for the competition and the person he is.
Federer’s greatest rival was Nadal. Both of them brought out the best out of each other and competed so many times. Nadal revealed in the documentary that they were always good friends off the court, which is very rare to find in a competitive sport.
In the documentary, Nadal and Federer shared funny blooper moments of when they were cutting a promo together or having conversations before a match.
Federer’s family is very loveable and united. He has a strong support system, which is evident in this documentary. One of the obstacles Federer had to endure was knee injuries. He needed to get several knee injuries, and it took a toll on him mentally.
His heart was always in it to play Tennis, but his body kept saying otherwise. His wife never forced him into retirement. This was all on Federer. The legend will miss the game of Tennis, but he won’t miss getting surgeries and going through rehab.
Some of the best and classiest scenes of the documentary show Federer conversing with legends like John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg, and Rod Laver. Federer respected Laver for naming the “Laver Cup” tournament after him.
Federer also revealed that Borg inspired him to play Tennis because of the way he presented himself and marketed himself. He was a great player during his era as well.
Filmmakers and producers should make sports documentaries like this one more often. Sports Documentaries showcase family, friends, and colleagues, showing mutual class, dignity, respect, humility, and harmony.
Grade Rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars
Miguel Mike Medina is the publisher of The MMM Journal. He can be reached at medinamiguelmike@gmail.com and themmmjournal@gmail.com
X: @mmm_sportnfilms, Instagram: @miguel_passionforsports and @themmmjournal, LinkedIn: The MMM Journal, TikTok: @miguelmikemedina
