Roger Federer and Trevor break down how moving on from major chapters in their lives has affected each of them and how Roger's desire to document the moment accidentally turned into the powerful documentary, Federer: Twelve Final Days. The two also discuss the future, their friendship, and their attendance record breaking tennis match for charity in South Africa which, surprisingly, Roger won.
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do you want to do you want to warm up first what do you do normally voice I do the voice stuff yeah you don't do like a little no I mean I'm trying to I'm trying to put you in the tennis mode no no totally good I don't hear it can I tell you that's probably my favorite thing about tennis is that like you you warm each other yeah that that is weird it's really weird it is super strange there's no other sport I can think of where the opposing athletes help each other get into the zone hey can I give you a good rhythm so you can beat me after yeah I'd like I've just I've just never I'd like you won't see boxes doing like the bag like yeah like just like doing a little punching him like before the before you go to knock each other this is what now with Trevor Noah this episode is presented by Lulu Lemon everyone has those moments where they say not today when it comes to fitness I mean I know I do well Lulu Lemon restorative gear is made for those days days where you want to max out your 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credit approval savings available to apple card owners subject to eligibility savings accounts provided by Goldman Sachs bank USA member FDIC terms apply well welcome everybody to another episode of what now the podcast where we have interesting conversations with the interesting people who make us think or feel today is I mean this is always one of my favorite things to do is sit down with somebody I consider a friend somebody who I've got fond memories with funny stories whatever it may be and really just chat about how they see the world what they're doing in it and that person today is the one and only Roger Federer you probably know him if you've lived on earth but if you don't he is widely regarded as the greatest tennis player that has ever done it he also gives that accolade to many of his peers who are also some of the greatest to ever do it but today we're talking about everything in between a documentary entitled Federer 12 final days which is exactly what it sounds like the 12 final days of Roger Federer's professional playing career and yeah man thank you so much for joining me on the podcast friend for sure good to see you to have absolutely the same I'm happy to see you again you know my tennis partner man from from Cape Town we did it together I mean your tennis rival but I mean yeah but we were in it together yeah we were in it together yeah but you still beat me that's amazing that you actually did that that was crazy 52 thousand people I mean you just started to play that is barely and here you are walking out and Cape Town that was wild yeah my my first and last public tennis match was against Roger Federer you retired a double as my right yeah that's it I mean Rafa was your partner quit the game on top do I not have to say doctor how does this work as it's up to you but if you have any issues ever or any problems I come to see me I mean doctor many things but yeah we the doctor thing comes from you're probably referring to my commencement yeah man congratulations thank you that was that was fun in Dartmouth and you get an honorary doctorate so here I am sitting as a doctor you know yeah a former tennis player that's what I can't think of many people who would be a better doctor than you you you're one of the most precise human beings I know you're one of the most like you you have everything that I think a good doctor would have right and I mean like a doctor dog like medical doctor like you have great bedside manner everyone that meets you likes you and they probably give you more information than they should yeah start just sharing their secrets with you you know what I mean you've got the precision you've got like the memory the touch the everything I it also seemed like emotional for you you know and I know a little bit of your story because you were you know thrust into the you know tennis profession like so early on high school wasn't a thing for you no college wasn't a thing for you was it was it like a little emotional experiencing a part of life that you maybe wouldn't have otherwise I'm very strange because like you said the the academic world and that part of life is so far away from it right I knew that intent I mean sorry in Switzerland it's super important academics come first and everything else is a hobby you know tennis especially sports in general anyways so for you to pursue tennis or sport in our country is like what do you mean you're obviously not gonna be good at it so make sure your grades are good you know because this is obviously not gonna work out oh wow and so for us to dive into that and believing and dreaming of you know the big time is is not something that is very common maybe now more so since you know I made it and we have more athletes making it you know and it's a thing and you can see how much emotions actually a athlete can bring it can be more seen as a career you know but then yeah you I mean I remember I tried hard you know when I stopped school at 16 and chased you know my tennis dream I remember I did French English and German online classes for those because I said I got to do something after 16 I can't stop it all then after you know a couple of weeks I asked my dad and my mom like it's so hard I don't have the discipline to sit down and do English and and all that stuff and German and French is it okay we drop French you know I'll just do German in English I'm better at that than the French party they're like okay fine so like two weeks later like I can't do it just give me a chance just to do only tennis if tennis really doesn't work out I'll go straight back to school but please let me go I like you whittling down the language I can't do French I can't do I can't do language I just want to hit the ball and then here I am you know yesterday at Dartmouth I mean in my robe giving commencement speak is speaking you know to all those graduates they're gonna be so bright they're gonna be incredible people you know and yeah I feel very humbled and it's a it was a great moment you know and and you brought the family and then all the music okay yeah and everybody came so it really felt like a deep dive into American College yeah you know which I had you know I know very little about obviously I mean in recent years I've got no more and more about it so when they asked me I started preparing because I don't give them many speeches like that so you seem natural though like thank you like I know this about you personally you're not the biggest fan of being on the mic you're not the biggest fan of like being but I've met few people who are more natural at it like you it's not just the the the glamour it's like you you have this vibe like you could be a Swiss James Bond yeah what is that yeah yeah I see him showing up here I am saving everything very responsible yes very responsible yeah it's very on time very on time very spot wouldn't blow anything up no you just fix things absolutely he'd make them better no I mean yeah I mean I like being you know on the mic yeah but then also I very much like again being gone from it all you know so and I think for me most important was always tried to keep thought of the authenticity you know just being organic myself not change too much you know I'm adapt fine you know to start them and all that stuff you know that was weird in the very beginning of my of my life but I'm happy I got out on the other side after this whole like 25 years of being in the limelight just still feeling like I'm actually still a good normal guy you know just I don't take myself too serious I like to make jokes all the time as you know and so then having a conversation like with you like today I knew it was gonna be fun so I mean thank you why do you think that is by the way like like my dad Swiss so I know that Swiss people are like the funniest like I mean we just have to be honest like what do you think it is that gave you that little that little spark like you when we were doing the Swiss tourism ad yeah we spent most of the day laughing yeah right when we're playing the tennis we spent most of the day laughing that when when you were launching the all of the people's collaboration your sunglasses we spent most of that evening laughing where do you think you get that from I mean it has to be from traveling and getting on the road yeah people have been surrounded by I mean as you know when you wait around along and you're around good fun people that you know life's seriously enough most of the time yeah I mean you have a lot of time to just you know talks back all the time so that's why I think it has to come from from the road I think then when I speak French whereas my French is never as good as my English I still feel like I'm a teenager right so when I speak French oh that's fine I feel like I'm super young still and super silly because the vocabulary is way that's really good for me and English to me is like did the language where I'm maybe the happiest and the most open okay maybe Swiss German is maybe where I'm the most how do you say the most me per se where I can get into the details because that's the language I grew up with and precise of course this is the most precise there you go it has to be that way so that's why I think it also has a little bit to do with all that I'm not sure yeah yeah for this conversation I was trying to think of like what would what would be something that that the listeners would really love you know what would they get from Roger that they may not be able to get in another conversation and because on the podcast what now what I'm always fascinated by is not just what happened but what that thing that happened will change for the future you know so sometimes if it's news or politics it's like that that happened okay what now but with people I also find it interesting because we always meet people at a moment in time and very seldom do we get inside into where they're gonna go what they're gonna do or how they're gonna do it and then you came out with this with this with this documentary film or the 12 final days and man I like I know you fairly decently and I've been lucky enough to know you for a few years but they were they were parts of it that were really intimate and really you know revealing yeah I would say and maybe maybe that's the first question I have for you is like were you worried at any point like why would you make a documentary that is following you for the last 12 days of one of the most illustrious careers that anyone has ever seen across any sports you know was there a part of you that worried that maybe you'd be losing the intimacy of that moment and that's why I think the best part of it all was it was not supposed to be a movie it was just supposed to be for the vault to put it away for my children no way for my team for my friends one day just so we could look back and say like you know we actually grabbed some content because the thing is I've been super given over in the media I mean always happy to take pictures and talk to everyone but then private is private you know like nobody comes to my house we don't take do home stories it's just sort of off limits and I try to keep my kids out of the limelight as much as I could of course there come some of the matches then down the road and of course people and see them sometimes but for the most part I've really tried to keep that more of a private thing so when then well the career was was coming to an end the question was well where was it gonna be you know where do I retire because I knew sort of some point in the summer that you know my my knee was not improving anymore you could see the trajectory going and and then you know and some people around me really thought that I should maybe have at least some footage taken from the end because I really never wanted a camera team in my in my life because I said like I couldn't think of anything worse here I am trying to prepare for Wimbledon or French Open US Open your name and you've got all these people around and they're here and then you know you're tying your shoes and you know they're looking over your shoulders so you tie them extra nice and then you go in front of the mirror you put on the headband and you make sure it's it looks epic you know even though there's no difference you just want to be focused so I think it give it I always felt like that's the not the thing I really need in my life and I don't want that okay so then we decide that it's gonna be London 0 to double with Rafa yeah I thought okay if I can just have a camera team around knowing that it's gonna go into the vault I'm gonna be relaxed because then I can just leave there forever or if ever there is a life doc you know about my life yeah 30 years from now I actually have some extra footage while I still was active I mean there is obviously tons of footage out there and maybe some I never and never remember and I allowed some behind the scenes sometimes I'd like exhibition matches like in South America tour I have because I just thought okay exhibitions you're relaxed it's much more on the fly everything there is no rules whereas you know you're playing for so many points and so much history at this other events I don't need the extra distraction okay so then team shows up was Joe Sabia from 73 questions oh yeah yeah so I was like okay I need someone I kind of know it cannot be just somebody out of nowhere that shows up and then is in my life especially yeah especially for something so intimate yeah it was super impotent because I said okay if we if I bring somebody in like I mean the guy has to come home and I'm like I don't want anybody at home but he has to yeah so we did that and you know days go by as I prepare in Switzerland I release you know the the news to the world that I'm retiring I read you know sort of my my audio form letter to the world so I didn't know how I was gonna announce it if it was gonna be video but I knew I was always gonna regret a video because I was gonna look at it later and go like oh my god that's such a bad video but you know you have to do something and then a little tweet is maybe not good enough because that's not good enough for the career that's not good enough as well so I read this letter so the crew is there as well so they captured that and then as I get ready and travel to London and prepare with the media and all that stuff so literally the crew is really more just a fly in the wall over the shoulder very raw footage and then as the days go by Joe says I'm so sorry this footage is so sick it's crazy I mean be such a way such a pity if you don't share this with your fans and your people like yeah whatever I'm not I'm not here for that I'm yeah trying to cope with my emotions you're essentially making a home video right so during a final moment so it was not and then of course you know everything's over Joe reaches out to me the director couple maybe couple weeks later I don't remember and goes look I just put something together for you to see 60 minutes have a look of 50 minutes I don't remember right and he was on zoom I was watching it at the hotel in Zurich and okay cried a couple of times because again you go through the emotions of watching it now I was thinking with Meerk and Tony were watching it and thinking is this something that really needs to go out to the world and maybe it's just like a snapshot of like you said that very very end of it all you know it's it's literally like rehab also for me going through it all again oh in what in what way I don't know because you know it was so emotional the end so I think for me to talk about it again and go and emotionally go through it all it's like therapy you know that's that feels good but it's I'm as you know in the movie I'm so vulnerable yeah and I don't know so I just hope that the people think thank you for letting me see it so cool you actually didn't keep it and so when I hear the people like it I'm just who I'm just relieved because it was so hard the end I know I know for a fact that people are gonna love it because it's it's it's not just the fact that they watching a documentary about Roger Federer it's it's the fact that you are bringing them into a space that we very seldom get to see which is the human side of being an athlete do you know what I'm saying yeah when we watch the documentary and when we think about teammates relationships partnerships I think arguably the greatest doubles partnership of all time is you and America I watch the two of you I've seen you at everything from the Met Gala yeah man just like like a little vacation together to you know chilling in Switzerland to whatever it is the two of you have the most beautiful synchronicity between you as human beings thank you I've always I've always wondered what that what that is like you know what do you think it is about Mirka that that that enables you to go off and become the greatest of all time what like what do you what do you think it is about her and and what do you think you in turn give her as well because the two of you really have a wonderful synergy as human beings I mean I think you have to go back to the early days you know where when we got together pretty much at the Sydney Olympics into a thousand I was young at the time Mirka was you know in the middle of her career started having some heel Achilles issues and was struggling after the surgery to come back I remember she was on crutches walking all the way through Paris at the time super tough moments you know and she was on crutches for a long time yeah I mean over a month I think you know at the time was like my god I mean how long are you having these crutches for I thought like it's just a surgery and we get back up on the horse you know and you keep going and then she's doing rehab always pain and then I told about why don't you just I mean retire I mean like this is not the idea of playing tennis with pain all the time and then we can be on tour together and I was you know on the ascent of starting to win Wimbledon top 10 well number one and she's like yeah you're right you know let me I'm done that's good and then wow and then here we are me a lot I don't know if I should retire I'm 36 you know 37 38 you know it's so hard to retire I'm thinking of her she just like went like okay I'm done you know it's no problem so what's a big deal I'm like well and I'm here I am at least it's the biggest deal in the world to retire and make it so emotional and I love the game so much right she does too but I think she loved the tour through my career and the travels and the logistics behind and like being you know my rock really through second thin and she's been incredible you know throughout and then first half thankfully we had it with no children and thankfully we had it with children you know the second half you know and that's obviously like that was a whirlwind of a life that we had and I missed that to be honest like creating that home away from home experience like in a room like this creating a corner where the kids would be playing and then I would jump in and out to read a book and go by build Lego together and whatever we did you know create little corners like this was great so me work has been phenomenal you know and I think that's why I also was so hard for her at the end when she could see the suffering that I was going through with my knee and she's like this is not the Roger that I know who you know who can crush everybody and beat everybody and we just had a good time if he loses no problem but if he loses at least you know he's feeling okay but she could see what I was going through on a daily basis so I think we were all super relieved at the end and you know in the movie as well she speaks to the she speaks to camera which she hasn't done in like 18 years people don't even know her voice you know because she's like I'm done with the media because once she was taken care of the press and I just thought there was another a great situation to have your your wife or girlfriend at the time take care of the press and all you say is 99% of the times oh I'm so sorry Roger doesn't have time to do media so she got a bad rap for that so then we said like well why not just stop doing that we give it to somebody else and she won't do any more interviews who knew that she was not going to do interviews for like 18 years and she did one just quick one now for the you know for the movie at the end we just wanted to capture just to see how she felt and actually the beautiful thing was I think when she was speaking to camera I was actually in the bedroom of the girls I believe the boys were there too maybe and I told them that I was retiring because I didn't tell them until I read the audio form at home because I didn't want them to tell their kids their friends and then it leaks yeah yeah and we were crying in the bedroom she's crying in the front talking about how much the career and how much I've meant to meant to her and I mean she's been incredible I mean throughout because it hasn't been easy for her but you know by any stretch and but so much fun and we look back with great great memories we're gonna continue this conversation right after this short break. 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Must be over 21 to gamble gambling problem call 1-800-GAMBLA this episode is brought to you by the podcast Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith you know one of my favorite subjects to discuss is technology because when you think about it there are few things in the world that can improve or destroy the world like the technologies that humans create the question is how do we find the balance well one of my favorite podcast that aims to find the answers to these questions is hosted by my good friend Brad Smith the vice chair and president of Microsoft from AI to cyber security and even sustainability every episode takes a fascinating look at the best ways we can use technology to shape the world follow and listen to tools and weapons with Brad Smith on Spotify now. One of my favorite moments is where you you're sitting in the in the change room and I think it's it's you're gonna be playing against the Francis right it's like it's for the doubles match and you and you you're talking about your knee yeah and you say like half-joking you go if I knew it was gonna be what it is you know I'm paraphrasing you if I knew it was gonna be like this I would have never gotten in I would have never gotten into it in the first place and you know I obviously don't take it literally I don't think you would have never done it but I do think people can take for granted how much sacrifice goes into a career like yours you know physical sacrifice mental sacrifice the time sacrifice of life when you look at your body now your mind your your your everything do you ever take stock and think she's off man I really gave a lot to tennis as a career yeah and especially when I see like yesterday you know you see the French Open Finals Alcarasicans there are five sets and they're chasing each other around the corner like I did that too you know I did that too many many times yesterday at when I was a commencement speaker I was talking about that I played 1,000 5 on 26 matches I had to look it up how many I did that may realize my god there was a lot of tennis a lot of running and I am so relieved that I don't have to go through it anymore you know you know because I mean as fun as it was but the especially towards the end I remember I mean the warm-ups you know the stretchings to warm up yeah warm up then tennis to take a break to then warm up the body again yeah to then go play you know a match I mean it was massive monumental effort to do that now you can say like well what's a big deal it's just tennis yes just tennis but it's your life and you and you've been trying to you tried to perform at your best in front of people and you know that better than anybody performing for people just adds that extra pressure there's no okay cut let's do that again that didn't work out like you're out there and you're vulnerable and it's tough so I honestly I feel super relieved and I see any athlete now or any person who performs at the highest of levels especially with a live audience you know I respect them and I'm so happy I have that but it almost feels like it was a different me now I don't know you probably still so in the thick of it you know but no no you not I actually I actually agree with you so yeah because it's funny and we talked about this like you announced like your departure from tennis around the same time I was departing from the Daily Show and I think I can relate to many of the things you're saying there's there's a moment in your life that is defined by a certain action and activity you know what it's gonna be like when you wake up you know what it's gonna be like when you go to bed your body starts to get used to it your mind starts to get used to it and when you step out of it like you said that there's the grief of what you've let go of but then you start to experience like a little newness a little free a little you know like for me yeah my version of the of the you know no tennis warm up is some days I don't read the news yeah now I can just do that I just go before you had to know what was going on I would be at parties I'll never forget this I was like a dinner party and in the middle of the dinner party a notification came up on my phone there was breaking news and I literally had to step away from the table and I went to read you know just because I was like I don't want to not know what this is because my job requires it and now I'm just like a phone off yeah I see what happens but I'm sure it's like for you right similar to to me now as well and that where I feel at the most is where you know if I'm with my children or with my friends I don't really have to think about tomorrow's practice that's interesting more is match you know like where all of a sudden you're sitting there I don't know you're having a good time but you're thinking so when he goes back and down the line on me and I'm on the phone on the run do I hit it back up the line I do I quote cross-court yeah and look hey you know you're like you end up visualizing don't don't rush away from that this is no this is this is fascinating to me I've always wondered this about about like the best athletes in the game you have memories and and visualizations that you know AI would would want to replicate yeah talk to me a little bit about that so you you you're going into a match you know a match is coming up in the in the next few days mm-hmm you're visualizing what the match will be and how your opponent plays and you're basically playing the match in your head before the match yes I mean yes absolutely and I think some do it by watching video I didn't watch a lot of video of my opponent even though towards the end I did because there's a couple of things that worked for me is the memory of remembering how it feels to play an opponent then what I would want to do so how does that match up together then how has my opponent played that particular week compared to how have we matched up against each other let's say the last 10 years you know and then you have fast court slow court so all of that matters how do I feel that week the things I've been doing maybe prior to the match yeah have I been playing aggressive have I been playing more safe am I carrying an injury or not how do I feel and then especially against the best players the ones I played the most against you know it's always it's a game of chess like for pattern who gets the patterns they want right and that's then when you realize well okay it's very clear what he wants it's very clear what I want yeah the question is like are we is one of us gonna back out of it or we just gonna say like okay let's see what you got on the day he might not have a best day maybe I don't have my best day so obviously there's this clash at the beginning and then you got to decide that we keep going or do we like start deviating from it and that's where like a skier you know who see is the ski slope yes we see those same patterns I was saying to before like if he goes I don't know short angle cross court do I have to go back cross court and and let him try to thread the needle up the line or do I take charge and say like do I go up the line and break break it up but then does it look like an escape from me or is that a specific play I use you know and then all this also statistics stuff came in towards the end of my career which can really make your make your I'd say your mind crazy yeah how do you feel about that because this is something that I've heard from athletes across all disciplines you know I remember sitting with like a few players from the Premier League and and Syria and they were telling me how in in football in soccer now it's all become data analytics so back in the day the coach would tell you this is how you should move this is what you should do and have fun and now a coach goes no when that player gets the ball we all move like this you come down you move up you do that when that player gets the ball you do this correct because 70% of the time they're gonna cross the ball over here that's right 82% of the time they're gonna pass it across this 23% of the time if you press them they're gonna do completely but it's coming as well and with tennis I've heard that this is also increasing where now yeah they give players like a book and they say study this yeah these are the percentage odds for what your opponent is gonna be doing or not doing these types of situations but like how do you get that in your head so that's the thing I am very much the guy who you know likes to go with my power okay I believe that I don't know playing attacking tennis attacking breaking down my opponent's back end is the play so obviously not gonna just hit into the back end all the time and try to break it I know you have to open it up through the forehand so then the back end corner gets bigger and then obviously you can hit it hard into the back hand corner spinning into the back hand corner slice it short long you do all these things yeah and when let's say the the most important moments come around that's when you then ask your opponent all the questions that you you know you've been massaging that the bad side let's say so many times that he has his doubts that he'd obviously doesn't want to hit all those different types of back ends let's just say yeah yeah now and then you know you thought you think it through with your your coaches and you have a game plan then of course you can think about all the problems and all the strength your opponent has but in my I feel like in my best years I just focused almost on my own game and the rest I'll wing it and I'll figure it out towards the end then like you said this analytics came in and then you would hear that I don't know on breakpoint he would hit 73% chance that he goes to your back end so now what do you do do you say like well obviously I'm waiting here on the back-hand side or do you say like well hold on a second he knows that I know so I know he knows and then he actually burns you up to for it through the forehand so you just so that's where I've preferred sometimes not to know I just go with the feeling of yeah how the last game went where he was serving was he making the last serves was he missing them was he going for it what was he doing and I just go with the intuition so that part I enjoyed less you know when he got yeah so specific like a Formula One car everything so everything becomes predictable yeah let me let me ask you this on a philosophical level then you know do you hearing you talk about this makes me think of how you can apply this to many things in life you know you know in society sometimes the downfall of data is that it looks backwards it doesn't look forwards you know so you go this has happened ergo it will happen as opposed to realizing that if you do something new you can change the data you know in relationships people will talk about this yeah like sometimes when couples are fighting you go like oh why don't you buy her flowers oh she doesn't care she'll just tell me this is like well you're using the data now to assume something about somebody's future action and it's interesting that you talk about that because everyone who's a fan of tennis and a fan of you is always gone it feels like you're flowing it feels like you it feels like you walking through it feels like you have this idea you know but I but I like I wonder now what that brain is doing now that there isn't tennis to think about right because that brain it's not like your brain just goes away it's not like your brain just turns off so what's what's Roger applying that brain to now or do you get to rest that and think of something I have the feeling maybe like you said Trevor it's maybe a little bit of a holding position a little bit of a resting phase okay I have retired just five minutes ago wait wait let's pause here yeah this is your resting phase I mean resting phase as in you know wait wait wait wait maybe oh yeah Roger no this is your resting phase yo okay let's let's go okay let's go launching a sunglasses brand that was sold out in minutes all right continuing to like blow up one of the fastest growing sports brands in the world right which is on traveling around the world still with like as a Rolex ambassador still being the face of tennis releasing a documentary going around like this is your resting phase well I feel like this I was I say the because this year in particular I was very strong with my wife to say you know what let's plan all our vacations super early okay so nobody can say like oh by the way can you come to to this one thing okay and I'm like yeah that makes sense I'm in Vietnam right now you know or I will be in Vietnam at this time or I'll be in Bangkok I'll be you know somewhere around the world so I really protected my schedule I feel at a very good level this year I'm really happy we did that I told you we just came back six weeks from from Asia an amazing trip in Thailand before that we were in Japan last October and we had a wonderful Christmas in the Maldives you know so things I really really looked forward to for many many years while still on tours that one day I can go visit places without the stress of having to practice or actually play another match there and it's been great for me to do that so I know I'll get back into it and then like you said I have all these projects you know that all of a sudden came about but not almost because I wanted them so badly they came back organically I mean on there just around the corner so I go to the offices and we talk about stuffs and they are just signed with on now so that's been so cool by the way that that that story is amazing on so many different levels like Zendaya is easily I mean she's just in the stratosphere of her career you know everything she touches turns to gold I also love the connection to the fact that like she just put up the movie challenges and all about tennis it's all about tennis but what's interesting and this is what I what I love about the serendipity of how some things tie together the movie challenges seems like it's about tennis but I argue it's not it just happens in the world of tennis mm-hmm and it's really a movie about relationships yeah it's really a movie about expectations it's a movie about pressure it's a movie about self-identity you know what I mean and in that movie in in the movie Zendaya's character and spoiler alert if you haven't watched it just skip this part Zendaya's character is probably gonna be the best tennis player in the world mm-hmm she suffers an injury she can't play her role changes dynamically and it ends all about this and there were some people who said oh man this sort of reminds me of like Roger and Mirka's story and then and then the very direct but the director came out and said no that's exactly what inspired me he was fascinated by my suffering through 2019 Wimbledon finals Wimbledon was on yeah you're on the courts and the camera and that's what they do Wimbledon right they always go from from player to team or player to wife or player coach right and it's such a tennis thing because in American football or baseball or football they don't always cut to the team yeah but in tennis it's such a thing don't go anyway because we got more what now after this this episode is brought to you by Ricola I think we can all agree that having an irritated throat is one of the worst feelings thankfully there's an easy solution Ricola cherry drops it provides the soothing throat relief you need and even better it's packed with flavor so you can make every day more delicious and still feel great try Ricola cherry drops now to find out where to buy it near you visit Ricola dot com Apple card is the perfect cashback rewards credit card but it's a 3% daily cashback on every purchase every day then grow it at 4.40% annual percentage yield when you open a savings account with Apple card visit apple dot co slash card calculator to see how much you can earn Apple card subject to credit approval savings available to Apple card owners subject to eligibility savings accounts provided by Goldman Sachs Bank USA member FDIC terms apply it feels like you've brought your precision your thoughtfulness and your joy out of tennis into another idea and that that is a sports brand I know you really thoughtful about why and you know why you do or don't do things so I I've been lucky enough to be in Switzerland with you and to like feel you moving through space like when we're in the train station for instance this this do you apply that to yourself as well as Roger like do you feel that you have you know maybe an obligation is the wrong word but I can't think of a better one right now to really represent Swiss identity to really represent Switzerland to really represent the people I think we're proud of our Swiss made and you know like we do it with precision and well and when you know there's like a Swiss cross on something it's supposed to be done to a level that not many other countries can bring it to and maybe you know Italy when it comes to really beautiful clothes or Japan when that you know that the craftsmanship is really special and I think the Swiss angle has that as well you know we're very proud of it like with our you know watches and cheese and chocolate and mountains and whatever it is you know we're very proud of it all as you saw you know when we did the Swiss tourism out together so yeah but on an individual level though it hasn't always been that way like earlier okay this is the way I've perceived it you know like you know having family members in Switzerland and spending a little time out there it's like Swiss culture is also a little bit of like hey don't stick out too much for sure we're all equal we're all doing this thing we're all as important as the other and so in many ways like the cause of personality so the beginning it was funny like I didn't feel like yeah sure I'm proud to represent Switzerland when it was a team sport and it's a game Switzerland you know like say in the Davis cup or Olympics and so forth but you know when I was traveling on my own and I feel like yeah sure I represent Switzerland there's a Swiss flag but never to the extent towards sort of the second half of my career when I really started feeling the Swiss people really proud of me that's very excited for me and every year that went by and the more famous I became yeah the more important was for me to represent Switzerland the right way because I know that they care yeah we're subdued about it we're not like let's not make a big fuss about it but we really are and honestly they you know it's hard to get them out of their shells shells and come like say like okay Rogers the greatest whatever is good you know we're like him but when maybe I'm not around you ask Swiss guy like oh Farrah he's amazing you know we're so proud of him so that's been amazing to you know it's funny is most of them don't even say a federal they always say Roger that's what I love the most genuinely everywhere I go they come out to me and they're like and they're like ah Trevor then they're like could see then they're like we saw your thing with Roger like yeah with Roger yeah it was very we love Roger how is it but they also Roger with that which I think is a testament to how they see you know I've always tried to keep that connection going I've done I mean countless hours of Swiss meat as well because it would have been easy just to say let's just keep it to English right right generic save time and stuff but I always knew I was gonna live in Switzerland I love the conduit they've been the best so it's been it's been great right could be happier so let's talk a little bit about you know you enjoying this this relative new freedom you know just being able to try everything knowing there's no match coming up knowing there's no you know even for your body you just like wake up the way you wake up and and do your thing you posted a video on Instagram hitting a golf ball ooh right and a golf and on second how do you play golf my channel I wouldn't say I've played golf I'll say I've hit a golf book I don't think what I what I did wasn't playing I am terrible I also don't get it to be honest with you I really I loved learning tennis and I I still play when I get a chance good I enjoy it yeah golf I never you know but you posted the video yeah and is this what so first of all how knew are you at it really because it was flawless no I know it looked good but it looked very good but those balls you know they have a way to slide over you know that's funny oh my god but no I've played throughout my my life on the road okay okay but never to the extent like we're Rafael yeah yeah Henman and other players you know they played all the time every chance the golf they would go out in the game and me I was especially the last say eight years or so I've maybe played like three four times you know my my parents both liked it they'd like to go out so then I was like you know I'll never go out there and start golf if my wife's not into it or my kids are not into it this just takes me to too much time out there and I have other things to do I'm too busy and anyway my knee was crazy so I was like I don't need to agitate the knee so now in December I was in Dubai I was like why don't I like take a few lessons and see how it is you know for the first time maybe a lesson I don't know I thought that my technique was okay yeah but obviously I was still very I'm still at the moment very erratic with my shots and I'll never forget the second lesson I take my golf coach he tells me a golf pro golf coach he tells me what are you thinking about when you stand over the ball like that I'm like I mean I hope it goes straight you know I mean when you think of something else or what I don't know what else I could think of he goes like that is the holy grail my friends because I mean you have so many things to think about normally about your positioning your backswing impact and follow through so I'm like okay so you already on the right path just thinking I hope that straight for lessons later I stand over the ball and I tell him hey you know what I know what you're saying here I am lining up and everything's like ultra tense it's not relaxed anymore I'm not even thinking about where I'm hitting the ball I just want the backswing to be okay and the impact and the follow through and it's wild how golf is so technical yeah and you know you stand there you can take so much time so effort but it's actually not right and tennis you're kind of always on the move it's like we would be tinkering with our serve for life I mean of course you get nuts you know just you know doing the same position like no let's just adjust it ever so slightly and every adjustment has a as an impact so anyway what I why I like golf is going out and then especially everybody started to play as well the kids miracle and everything and I just really thought also for philanthropy you know for maybe the foundation stuff I know that maybe through golf I could be out there because maybe tennis I can't always be out there but it gives you a chance to maybe have some some fun golf advice I could join or I could do it with my foundation and I could play for the rest of my life so why not take some lessons and that's what I'm going through right now let's let's talk a little bit about another aspect of the film that for me really I think is one of the main pillars of who Roger Federer is you can't watch this this documentary and not think about how important relationships are you know when you when you're watching the final 12 days of your career what one of the scenes that is I mean everyone's probably gonna cry when they watch it and it's a good cry is watching you and and and the team and it's like Team Europe and you're saying goodbye and it's this this whole thing yeah and everyone is cried you know you've taken sense of stage and you've spoken and and rougher's crying and you walking into the change rooms together and then rougher goes off and he goes off into another because he's still crying and he's so emotional this maybe is something that that I think is not just a beautiful testament to you but it's it's an interesting look at relationships and how we think of them there is no great arrival in your career than Rafael Nadal yeah you know this is the person who was always between you and another grand slam another and obviously no vac came in time but you and rougher we think of us being synonymously you know head-to-head all the time you wouldn't think in most stories that the person who would cry more than you would be your number one quote-unquote rival and yet it seems like it wasn't necessarily a rivalry it seems like it was a competition and there's a love as brothers tell me a little bit about that relationship and and how you were still able to compete at the highest level against somebody like that and beat them have them beat you but then still have that love between you so I think what I like about the story of now take tennis as a whole sure we can take Rafa but if we can also take Novak or Marie or Brinko whoever we want to take but let's say take Rafa to come through a career of 25 years or 15 whatever it's long a lot of matches a lot of tough battles like you said you know you you win some you lose some some you don't like him then you like him again then you don't like his team or you don't like his coach and then they have a problem with you and you said something he said something and you know there's always this agitation but actually there's mutual respect and so forth and then to come out at the end of it all and actually be like high five that was cool that stuff was cool and you know what we can't wait to maybe hang out more in the future or hopefully we'll see each other again down the road and be on a rocking chair one day we'll look back and go like that was fun and thank you and I said that as well the commencement speech is speech yesterday I thanked all the players for making me better and showing me my flaws you know from making me hopefully better not just a tennis player but I also a better person you know so I think this last 12 days you know that we're gonna see coming out now is is a beautiful story as a whole I think for that message because I think a lot of time we we tell the other you know the as a coach or a father or whoever it is you have to be tough and you got to be taken down and you got to beat him up and you know you got to be wanting to win and you got to show everybody and you can't be nicest and so I'm like yeah I get it but it's just tennis or it's just sports and come on let's be friendly and nice to one another and we can do it in a good way in an elegant way I always call it you know so I think that moment shows that in in a perfect way like you said the segue from from the court we come into the locker room and I just felt it was very important for me to also tell all the other players that they ended up being this these co-stars in this movie which was never supposed to be why and I just wanted to let them know because I didn't know at the time this was going to be a movie I just wanted to let them know thank you for being here thank you for I hope you know how much this means to me that you guys were all here and you came to my last game even though at the time when they signed up they didn't know it was gonna be my last game maybe yeah after asked them if they're happy they were to be there and I think Rafa maybe in particular he was not ready for it to go down so emotional yeah so crazy he just wanted to like I'll play doubles with you and be great and we'll be there and it will be you know that emotional at the end you know but I think we nobody knew that it was going to be this intense because I think that there was this beauty we had this moment where we could just take it all in right our careers were flashing in front of our eyes especially for them who are still going they're like we are so fortunate I think all of us that we are living as a tennis player we're so fortunate to still be going hopefully you know no back and go on cross every record I mean hopefully Murray can play as long as his hip allows him to and he still has the hunger Rafa knew that he was in a tough spot as well and he hopes that he can still win as much as possible yeah and here I am they're one of their big rivals going out and seeing it alive in slow motion almost go out and it was tough and that's why I think the movie was gonna be really beautiful of showing that and I hope actually in many ways that many future great athletes or not so great doesn't matter will maybe give us that glimpse into the retirement moment because we don't know how maybe a formal one driver rugby player a golfer how they retire what they have to go through on that final stretch when you head into retirement at a young age you know I mean Jim Nasti do it at 20 something years old you know I now had the chance to play till 40 41 you know so I think everybody does it in in their way so right I think like you said there's this beautiful moments like in the locker room super raw super unexpected as well in many ways but it was it's again it's that beautiful sign of camaraderie I know we're a team at the Labour Cup but still for me to be able to tell them in a very strong moment was actually at the press conference like a couple of days earlier if you remember where I talk about I am so happy where I grabbed a mic one more time and I just had to say it in front of everybody here I am sitting with I mean Borg and Rafa Novak Andy and Casper Mateo and Cameron and everybody was there and I'm just saying how happy I am that I get to go first you know and it's not like Rafa retiring before me or Novak or Andy but actually I go first like it was supposed to be because I am five six years older than them I hear what you mean it would have been painful for me to see one of them go for injury right so I was supposed to be going first yeah I had a career without them in the beginning early years and they should have one without me too so I just felt it was important for them to hear that the press for them to hear that and I just thought there was a for me a very strong emotion moment you can see it how then when I walk out from the press conference I'm like right oh god this was a brutal press conference but you know we're getting closer to the match though we're almost we're almost done so so let me ask you this when you have that kind of supports you know when you have that camaraderie like where do you where do you find it now because while tennis took a toll on your body it also gave you something on an emotional level gave you something on a mental level where do you search for that now where do you find it so I'm happy that we always kept a really nice group of friends throughout the world but also in Switzerland I always have my roots down I think that I can really thank my wife as well especially to always keep in touch with everybody yeah because I always worry for players and when players ask seek me for advice or you know you mentor them sometimes or they're in a tough spot I always tell them you know remember to keep in touch with your friends because one day you're maybe gonna be injured or your career is over you're gonna come home what are you gonna come home to you know an apartment that's it a house I mean but a house with no people or an apartment there's no friends around it's gonna be it's not a home it's not a home yeah so I feel like that's now what our big focus is as well that's why I was talking about like taking a bit of a break maybe it's not a real break but you know what I'm saying is actually about holding on to weddings going to birthday parties going to things I could never do yeah and actually catching up with that but also maybe giving my friends their time now because they invested so much time in me - I know they love the trip to Wimbledon and come to London and then come watch a game of me I know and I organize a ticket and so but they still took their vacation or they took time out to come see me play and I now return the favor by going just trying to see a lot of my friends and I feel like I get get a lot of energy and a lot of happiness from that well Roger before I let you go there's a question that I love to ask everybody on the podcast is what now and it could apply to everything it could apply to anything I'm selfishly curious about this one is the what now for for your career when we first sat down and had like a real conversation like this was literally my final 12 days yeah of the daily show that's right you know and then second last yeah second second second to last yeah no I think you were the last you might have been the last guest actually how did that feel for you the like the end then did you also feel emotional where you like so no I actually this is great happy so this is the way I think and I would love to know how you view it say you know I think any ending that is good should leave you with a little bit of mourning or regret yeah any ending that that is good anything that has ended when it should end should have you just yearning a little bit for more yes yes when I was when I was leaving the daily show I wasn't like good riddance there's a part of me going and would be good to continue it would have maybe I should just a little bit more maybe but I think that's what it should be yeah if you're leaving anything a relationship a job a career in sport and you're like oh thank God it's good then I argue it's too late yes yes you've overstayed yeah you know so definitely for me it was and then just like you you know there was a whole period in between where we couldn't really do much and those strikes and everything oh yeah and then we won the Emmy for the show so it was like we got to come back and celebrate that and it's like you know you going back to Wimbledon yeah being in the space but not being in the space comes with a different feeling yeah you get to feel new emotions yeah yeah you're super distant exactly exactly and the same way with the documentary now is like you get to live that moment again but not be in it yeah which is an interesting way to feel so I guess like yeah what now for you as Roger the person like because really the sky is the limits yeah so what now I think I'm still in a search mode I'm not exactly sure what it's gonna be like yeah I've been trying to like I explained before protect the schedule a little bit make sure I'm a dad you know boys are 10 girls are 14 it's a big deal right now I feel like it's an important time for me to be around and support them help them so going through the schedule with Mirka and with the kids making sure we do all of that stuff as much as we can well right I think is a is a huge priority for me and then while we do that of course I'm trying to have fun with other projects that we're working on you mentioned so many we're also working on a acetylene project you know that comes out a table a couple of table book okay in September okay launch gonna be in New York actually so I'm looking forward to that and then I think as we move forward you know I think I think I will know more let's say in a year's time or so because I feel like I'm still a little bit in let's relax let's enjoy ourselves but have some cool projects and take that on so that's gonna be a definitely you know a priority for me as well so pretty laid back you know always see what is the tennis space doing for me problem is I think either your coach mentor or you are a well journalist or let's say commentator yeah and I just don't see myself doing that quite yet because I just don't have the time you know with next to being there for my children so so really a bit of a transition phase to and I think it's a good spot to be in it's a great spot yeah it's a great spot yeah exactly and whereas I feel like if I look back maybe nine months ago I wasn't so sure I just felt like I need to do dive into next project yeah maybe not was I was I supposed to go there I feel like where everywhere I go right now I feel like I'm happy to be there that's amazing man well great Roger congratulations again you know and then thank you for sharing it with us I do think it's it's wonderful for people to see all sides of a career that affected them in such a such a wonderful way so this is really great thank you my friend thank you love being on the podcast well done happy for you too man thank you very much thank you what now with Trevor Noah is produced by Spotify studios in partnership with Day Zero Productions and full-well 73 the show is executive produced by Trevor Noah Ben Winston Stanazzi Amin and Jodi Avogan our senior producer is Jess Hackle Karina Henke and Claire Slaughter are our producers music mixing and mastering by Hannah Sprout thank you so much for listening join me next Thursday for another episode of what now (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)
