While Roger Federer always left everything on the court, he almost always kept his personal life to himself.
But ahead of the release of his new documentary Federer: Final Twelve Days—which takes viewers along for an intimate look at the last days of his tennis career—the 20-time Grand Slam winner shared an inside look at how his life has changed in the two years since he retired from the sport.
“I’m in charge completely of my schedule,” Roger exclusively told E! News at the documentary’s Tribeca Film Festival premiere. “I can dictate where I want to be, what I want to do. I feel like life’s been really good for that. I’ve been able to go to weddings, to birthday parties—all things I couldn’t do—and we’ve been traveling. We just came back from six weeks in Asia.”
The 42-year-old also revealed how his wife Mirka Federer and their children—15-year-old twin girls Charlene and Myla and 10-year-old twin boys Leo and Lenny—have adjusted to the change in their playbooks.
“I’m really happy with how everybody is coping with me retiring,” he added. “Also with me being home more. The kids still love me which is a great thing.”
While these small glimpses into Roger’s life at home have slowly become more frequent over the years, fans will soon be given previously unheard of access into the tennis legend’s inner world in Final Twelve Days.
After all, the documentary was never supposed to be shared with the public. Originally created as a home video for the family to be able to look back on, it wasn’t until director Joe Sabia realized how good the content they were capturing was that Roger began to consider sharing it with the world.
“Midway through, just him being there, fly on the wall type of thing,” Roger remembered, “he told the team, ‘I’m catching such incredible footage that this would be too much of a pity if we didn’t share it with his fans.'”
As for how Joe pitched it to the tennis champ, Roger added, “‘People would love to see what you’re going through, the vulnerability and also the beauty of your career.’
And soon it was clear he wasn’t overselling the footage.
“And when he sent me a rough cut a couple of weeks later,” Roger continued with a laugh, “I was watching the movie with my wife and I was like, ‘Oh, it is good. Oh my god what do I do now?’ And now we’re here at the Tribeca Film Festival, it’s pretty crazy.”
And for directors Joe and Asif Kapadia, it is the very fact the documentary was never going to be shared that makes it so special.
“The film’s really interesting because it’s the intimacy,” Asif reflected. “You’re in the elevator, you’re in the car with him, you’re at home with him, you meet his wife. You meet the children things that he’s always been very protective of. And it’s not performed. Because it was never meant to be seen publicly, they’re all being themselves. And I think that’s the power of it. The naturalism, the humanity of the man comes across with his family and loved ones. It’s a love story, really.”
That humanity, Joe added, comes across most powerfully in the moment—spoiler alert!—immediately after Roger announced his retirement to the world.
“When Roger retreats from main court and goes into the locker room,” Joe began. “For the camera to be there, to follow him as he’s there with his teammates, with his rivals, to be able to acknowledge them, to be able to think about them before he thinks about himself—to me that says everything about Roger Federer. When you watch that scene, you understand who this man is.”
So don’t miss Federer: Final Twelve Days streaming now on Amazon Prime.
