Roger Federer recently revealed that he collaborated with famous director Asif Kapadia and producer Joe Sabia on a documentary that showcases the days leading up to his retirement at the 2022 Laver Cup.
Federer is arguably one of the most important figures in the tennis world, with 20 Major titles to his name over a career spanning nearly 24 years. The Swiss maestro retired from pro tennis at the 2022 Laver Cup in London after persistent knee injury problems.
The former World No. 1 played only one competitive match for Team Europe at the exhibition event, partnering good friend and archrival Rafael Nadal to take on Team World’s Frances Tiafoe and Jack Sock. While the ‘Fedal’ duo lost the match in three sets, fans at the O2 Arena cheered for the Swiss legend raucously as they bid him goodbye.
As it turns out, video content producer Joe Sabia shot tons of footage of the fortnight in London and eventually proposed a documentary to Roger Federer sometime later. Asif Kapadia, famous for his documentaries on Diego Maradona, Ayrton Senna, and Amy Winehouse, is at the helm of the project.
In an interview, the 42-year-old maintained that since he didn’t sign up for a full-blown documentary, he wasn’t much inclined to the idea. However, he quickly changed his mind after being shown the final product, which is one and a half hours long and will be released on Amazon Prime.
“So then they came and I said, ‘Well, you probably want to see before, and then during, and after [the match].’ And then Joe told me, ‘Hey, I have so much footage and it’s so incredible and it would be such a waste not to share this.” Roger Federer said to GS Sports. “Can I just pitch to you a one-hour doc?’ And I’m like, ‘Okay, well sure, but that’s not the point here. But yeah sure, show me.'”
“And it’s super emotional, hard-core to watch. So I watch it with Mirka and Tony [Godsick, Federer’s agent] and we’re like, Oh, my God, wow. So next thing you know, it’s like we’re doing one and a half hours, last-12-days-of-my-life type thing. I watched a screening the other day, it was hard-core. I cried like six times.”
Roger Federer further elaborated on why he wasn’t predisposed to making a documentary on the final days of his career, claiming that he wasn’t “ready to write his story” then.
“This was something I didn’t want to do. It’s like writing a book. I didn’t want to write a book. I just was not ready to write my story,” the Swiss said. “So that was never an idea. Then when the end was coming nearer, and once the Laver Cup was set, the question was: Well, do we want to have anything documented?”
The 20-time Major winner added that the 2022 Laver Cup documentary was initially shot to be watched by only his family, team, and friends.
“Just maybe more for my own story, for my own kids, for friends and coaches and my team. How about if we film a little bit of an over-the-shoulder type thing?” he added. “Then at least we’d have something, because we almost have no behind the scenes of my life because I never want anybody around.”
