RETIREMENT LOOKS GOOD ON ROGER FEDERER

WITH MORE TIME FOR HIS FOUR KIDS AND A BUSTLING TO-DO LIST OFF THE COURT, THE TENNIS ICON IS SAVORING EVERY PART OF HIS NEW LIFE

- GILLIAN TELLING

For 24 years Roger Federer was a near picture-perfect athlete, always full of grace and always intensely focused. Now nearly two years into his retirement, the Swiss tennis legend who began playing professionally as a teenager just seems different. Yes, he's still poised. But he's also full of joy. "I'm really, really happy," he says with a grin. "Retirement has been really good." He had no idea leaving the sport that dominated his world for decades would feel...okay? "It was a weird feeling but also a good one," the 42-year-old says of announcing in September 2022 that he would retire and leave behind the intense scheduling, the matches, the rehabilitation. "I hadn't felt great for years at the end," he admits, “so it was a huge relief."

Now Federer is revealing the private moments leading up to his transition-including anxious jitters but also certainty about moving on-in a new Prime Video documentary, Federer: Twelve Final Days, out June 20. Initially the footage "was just for my children, my friends and myself," the dad of four says. "Maybe some social clips. That's why it was so natural and unscripted." When all was said and done, though, he realized that his last chapter as a tennis pro was worth sharing. "I still haven't wanted to do a full documentary about my entire life yet," he says. "Twelve days was perfect for me!"