Culture | TV Last week, Roger Federer gave a graduation address to students at Dartmouth College in the US where he stated “perfection is impossible”. And yet the speech was near perfect: amusing, natural, from the heart and, at times, emotive. It epitomised the poise he showed on court but also the sense of humour he has in less guarded moments.
It seemed to show a truer version of the Swiss than Federer: Twelve Final Days, the new Amazon film documenting the period spanning from the day of his retirement to his final and emotive farewell at the Laver Cup. Federer fans will love it, made to feel like they’ve got up close and personal to their idol, and it is a pleasant enough watch. But it left me feeling like there could have been more as seen so recently in that graduation speech.
It also feels exactly like what it is – a home video originally created for the family and then subsequently turned into a documentary , one suspects because his tennis farewell playing on court with big rival and friend Rafael Nadal was so perfect. The arrival of Nadal halfway into the documentary is a plus. For such great rivals, their friendship is a quirk, and there is a lovely clip of them much younger cracking up together as they try to get through recording a promotional video together.
There is another moment in the changing room after their Laver Cup match had ended and the flood of tears finally stemmed where Federer quipped, “Imagine if we’d won the doubles.” Cue much lau.