Given
that
Twelve
Final
Days
doesn’t
really
delve
into
the
genesis
of
Roger
Federer,
the
ups
and
downs
of
his
career,
the
assumption
is
that
it
is
meant
for
people
who
are
already
familiar
with
his
work,
observes
Deepti
Patwardhan.
Late
in
the
documentary,
amidst
the
2022
Laver
Cup
frenzy,
Roger
Federer’s
long-time
coach
and
friend
Severin
Luthi
remarks,
‘You
know
what
they
say,
sports
people
die
twice.’
It
is
the
dying
moments
of
Federer
the
athlete,
who
once
seemed
immortal,
that
Asif
Kapadia’s
documentary
Twelve
Final
Days,
addresses.
Not
surprisingly,
the
documentary
reels
you
in
with
footage
of
Federer’s
most
stunning
shots.
In
that,
he
could
not
have
found
a
better
muse.
We
could
all
happily
just
watch
hours
and
hours
of
the
Swiss
turn
tennis
into
art,
with
the
most
elegant,
fluid
strokes.
Peak
Federer,
untouched
by
time.
But
then,
it
jerks
you
into
reality,
takes
you
to
a
place
where
the
20-time
Grand
Slam
champion
is
preparing
to
record
his
retirement
note.
When
Federer
bid,
in
his
own
voice,
a
fond
farewell
to
tennis.
The
one
we
heard
a
few
days
later,
on
September
15,
2022,
in
stunned
silence.
That
may
be
the
film’s
biggest
failing.
Given
that
the
movie
doesn’t
really
delve
into
the
genesis
of
the
champion,
the
ups
and
downs
of
his
career,
the
assumption
is
that
it
is
meant
for
people
who
are
already
familiar
with
Federer’s
work.
But
the
movie
seldom
tells
us
much
about
the
last
few
days
of
his
athletic
career,
that
we
hadn’t
already
seen,
heard
or
experienced
before.
There
is
much
of
the
same
for
the
die-hard
Federer
or
tennis
fans,
and
not
enough
for
the
others.
Federer’s
has
been
one
of
the
most
documented
careers
ever.
He
was
a
master
of
masking
emotion
on
the
court
but
the
Swiss
never
failed
to
give
an
insight
into
how
he
felt
in
the
post-match
analysis.
Whether
he
was
happy
or
sad
or
hurt
or
miffed
or
just
genuinely
proud
of
himself,
Federer
usually
laid
it
all
out.
There
are
some
attempts
to
add
context
to
the
retirement
saga,
like
the
interactions
with
his
family.
His
wife,
Mirka,
a
former
tennis
player
herself,
makes
a
rare
appearance,
as
do
his
parents
and
four
children.
There
is
a
lot
of
tearing
up,
from
Federer,
from
his
family,
his
rivals,
his
team,
his
fans,
but
very
little
raw
emotion.
At
least,
nothing
that
hasn’t
already
been
captured
on
film
before.
The
second
half
of
the
movie
looks
like
an
extended
cut
of
the
2022
Laver
Cup,
Federer’s
final
tournament
as
an
active
player,
with
his
media
interactions
in
London
around
that
time
and
official
press
conferences
thrown
in
for
good
measure.
But
anything
Federer
touches
can’t
be
all
bad.
Right?
The
20-time
Grand
Slam
champion
has
been
the
best
advertisement
and
the
most
eloquent
spokesperson
for
the
sport.
He
does
sprinkle
some
gold
dust
through
the
movie
with
his
insights
into
the
sport
—
a
confluence
of
boxing
and
chess,
his
own
game
and
also
into
his
rivalries.
It
is
baffling
to
many
how
the
guy
has
so
much
time
and
grace
—
in
his
career
and
in
the
documentary
—
for
those
who
have
stolen
glory
from
him.
On
the
tennis
court,
Federer
was
all
about
the
effortless
beauty.
When
Rafael
Nadal
and
Novak
Djokovic
burst
onto
the
stage,
their
searing
intensity
was
blinding.
Their
chase-every-ball-like-life-depended-on-it
game
threw
some
shade
on
Federer’s
easy
style.
‘It
was
something
for
which
I
was
criticised
heavily,’
he
says
of
the
time
Nadal
and
Djokovic
loosened
his
grip
on
men’s
tennis.
‘Why
didn’t
I
fight
more
when
losing?
I
didn’t
quite
understand
what
that
meant.
Do
I
have
to
grunt?
Do
I
have
to
sweat?
Do
I
have
to
shout
more?
Do
I
have
to
be
more
aggressive
towards
my
opponents?
I
tried
but
it
was
all
an
act.’
The
documentary
spends
considerable
time
on
the
dynamics
of
Federer’s
rivalry
with
Nadal
and
with
Djokovic.
And
rightly
so.
Federer
may
have
kicked
off
the
greatest
generation
in
men’s
tennis
but
it
took
Nadal
and
Djokovic’s
undying
spirit
to
make
it
what
it
was.
The
setting
of
the
finale
is
the
Laver
Cup,
a
team
tournament
conceived
by
Federer
to
honour
tennis
legend
Rod
Laver
and
one
that
provided
a
fitting
platform
for
his
farewell
in
2022.
As
the
action
shifts
there,
it
becomes
clear
why
the
Swiss
ended
up
as
one
of
the
most
loved
sportspeople.
Even
though
every
conversation,
be
it
with
fans
or
with
his
heroes
like
Laver
and
Bjorn
Borg,
carries
the
under-current
of
his
impending
retirement,
Federer
carries
on
being
funny
and
curious
and
personable.
For
years,
he
was
the
glue
that
held
tennis-bringing
players
and
fans
of
different
countries,
cultures
and
generations
together.
His
farewell
ended
up
being
a
celebration
of
not
just
Federer’s
career,
but
that
of
the
sport
and
some
of
its
best
practitioners,
past,
present
and
future.
His
final
match,
a
doubles
match
with
Rafael
Nadal
as
his
partner
on
September
24,
2022,
and
the
ceremony
and
speeches
after
were
a
tearjerker
then,
and
are
a
tearjerker
now.
While
Federer
was
always
a
crier,
watching
strongmen
Nadal
and
Djokovic
weep
for
a
part
of
their
career
and
life
they
were
saying
goodbye
to
was
extraordinary.
Humanity
of
super
athletes
rarely
fails
to
move.
And
that’s
what
Federer,
Kapadia
and
everyone
involved
in
the
making
of
Twelve
Final
Days,
will
be
banking
on
to
make
it
a
success.
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