What Now? with Trevor Noah - Doctor Roger Federer Will See You Now [VIDEO]

Episode Date: July 2, 2024

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 a powerful documentary. The two also discuss the future, their friendship, and their attendance record breaking tennis match for charity in South Africa which, surprisingly, Roger won. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Do you want to warm up first? What do you do normally? Voice? I do the voice stuff. Yeah? You normally do like a little... No, I mean I'm trying to put you in the tennis mode. No, no, totally good. Can I tell you, that's probably my favorite thing about tennis, is that like you warm each other up. Yeah, 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. Can I give you a good rhythm so you can beat me after? Yeah, I've just never...

You won't see boxers doing the bagging. The sparring. Yeah, just doing a little punching before you go and knock each other out. This is What Now with Trevinoa. At Radiolab, we love nothing more than nerding out about science, neuroscience, chemistry. But, but, we do also like to get into other kinds of stories. Stories about policing or politics, country music, hockey, sex of bugs. Regardless of whether we're looking at science or not science, we bring a rigorous curiosity

to get you the answers. And hopefully make you see the world anew. Radiolab, adventures on the edge of what we think we know. Wherever you get your podcasts. 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's 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, Trevor. Absolutely the same. I'm happy to see you again. You know, my tennis partner, man, from Cape Town, we did it together. I mean, you're a tennis rival. 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. 52,000 people. I mean, you just started to play tennis barely. And here you are walking out in Cape Town to that city. That was wild. Yeah my first and last public tennis match was against Roger Federer. You retired on top. Rafa Nadal as my right. Yeah that's it. I mean Rafa was your partner. Quit the game on top. Do I now have to say doctor? How does this work? It's up to you but if you have any issues ever

or any problems you come to see me. I mean, Doctor of many things. But yeah, the doctor thing comes from, you're probably referring to my commencement speech. Yeah man, congratulations. Thank you. That was fun in Dartmouth and you get an honorary doctorate. So here I am sitting as a doctor, you know, I'm, yeah, a former tennis player. That's what I am. I can't think of many people who would be a better doctor than you. You're one of the most precise 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, 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. 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 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 academic world and that part of life is so far away from it, right? I knew that in, 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 a sport in our country is like, what do you, I mean, you're obviously not going to be good at it. So make sure your grades are good, you know, because this is obviously not going to work out. And so for us to dive into that and believing and dreaming of, you know of the big time is not something that is very common. Maybe now more so since I made it and we have more athletes making it and it's a thing and you can see how much emotions actually an athlete can bring.

It can be more seen as a career. I remember I tried hard 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, oh, I got to do something after 16. I can't just 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 all that stuff and German and French.

They said, okay, we drop French. You know, I'll just do German and English. I'm better at that than the French part. 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. And if tennis really doesn't work out, I'll go straight back to school, but please let me go.

I like how you whittling down the language. I can't do French. 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 speech, speaking to all those graduates. They're going to be so bright. They're going to 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 kids came. Yeah. And everybody came. So it really felt like a, um, a deep dive into American college, you know, which I had, you know, I know very little about obviously, I mean, in recent years, I've gotten to know more and more about it. So when they asked me, I started preparing because I don't give them many speeches like that. You seem natural though. 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 glamour. It's like you have this vibe. Like you could be a Swiss James Bond. Yeah, what is that? Swiss James Blassium. Yeah, I see him showing up. Here I am, saving everything. Very responsible. Yes, very responsible. He'll be on time. Yeah, very on time, very responsible. Wouldn't blow anything up. No.

He would just fix things. Absolutely. He'd make them better. No, I mean, yeah, I mean, I like being, you know, on the mic, 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 try to keep thought of the authenticity, you know, just being organic myself, not change too much, you know, adapt fine, you know, to stardom and all that stuff, you know, that was weird

in the very beginning of my, of my life. Um, but, um, I'm happy I got out on the other side after this whole like 25 years of being in the limelight right just still feel like I'm actually still in 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, like my dad's Swiss. So I know that Swiss people aren't 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, we spent most of the day laughing. Yeah, we did. Um, when we're playing the tennis, we spent most of the day laughing. When, when you were launching the Oliver people's collaboration, your sunglasses, we spent most of the day laughing. When you were launching the Oliver Peoples 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 and the 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 serious enough most of the time. Yeah. I mean, you have a lot of time to just, um, you know, talk smack all the time. So that's why I think it has to come from, from the road. Um, I think then when I speak French, um, whereas my French is, uh, never as good as my English.

Um, I still feel like I'm a teenager, right? So when I speak French, I feel like I'm super young still and super silly because the vocabulary is way more limited. That's really funny. And English to me is like the language where I'm maybe the happiest and the most open. Okay.

And maybe Swiss German is maybe where I'm the most, um, 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. The most precise. Of course, Swiss is the most precise. There, where I can get into the details because that's the language I grew up with. Right, the most 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 of that. I'm not sure. Yeah. For this conversation, I was trying to think of like, what would be something 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 insight into where they're gonna go, what they're gonna do, how they're gonna do it. And then you came out with this documentary film, oh, the 12 final days.

And man, I know you fairly decently and I've been lucky enough to know you for a few years, but there were parts of it that were really intimate and really, you know, um, revealing. 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? Totally. 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, for my team, for my friends one day, just so we could look back and say, you know, we actually grabbed some content because the thing is I've been super given, open 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 it's just, uh, sort of off limits. And I tried to keep my kids out of the limelight as much as I could. Of course they've come, seen some of the matches then down the road. And of course, uh, people then see them sometimes, but for the most part, I've really tried to keep that more of a, of a private thing. So when then, uh, well, the, the career was, was coming to an end. Uh, the question was, well, where was it going to be? You know, where do I retire? Because I knew sort of at some point in the summer that, you know, my knee was not improving anymore and you could see the trajectory going.

And then, you know, 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 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 then they're here and then, you know, you're tying your shoes and you know, they're looking over your shoulder. So you tie them extra nice. And then you go in front of the mirror,, 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 gives, 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 going to be London, O2, doubled with Rafa, called Rafa at this point. And, and I thought, okay, if I can just have a camera team around knowing that it's going to go into the vault, I'm going to be relaxed because then I can just leave it there forever. Or if ever there was a life doc, you know, about my life 30 years from now, um, 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,

I never remember. And I allowed some, uh, behind the scenes, sometimes I'd like exhibition matches, like in South America tour, because I just thought, okay, exhibitions, you're relaxed, it's much more, um, 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, um, team shows up, uh, was a Joe Sabia from 73 questions. Oh yeah. Yeah. So I was like, okay, I need someone. I kind of know, uh, it cannot be just somebody out of nowhere that shows up and then is in my life. Especially for something so intimate.

Yeah, it was super intimate because I said, okay, if I bring somebody in, 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 I release the news to the world that I'm retiring. I read sort of my audio form letter to the world because I didn't know how I was going to announce it,

if it was going to be video. But I knew I was always going to regret a video because I was going to look at it later and go like, oh my god, that's such a bad video. But you have to do something. And then a little tweet is maybe not good enough because that's not good enough for the crew. 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 then 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, it'd be such a way, such a pity if you don't share this with your fans and your people. I'm like, yeah, whatever. I'm not here for that. I'm trying to cope with my emotions. You're essentially making a home video capturing a final moment. So it was nuts.

And then of course, you know, everything's over. Joe reaches out to me, the director a couple, maybe a couple of weeks later, I don't remember. He goes, look, I just put something together for you to see. 60 minutes, have a look, or 50 minutes, I don't remember. 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. And I was thinking with Mirko and Tony, we were watching it and okay, cried a couple of times because again, you go through the emotions of watching it. And I was thinking with Mirka and Tony, we were watching it and thinking, is this something

that really needs to go out to the world? Maybe it's just like a snapshot of, like you said, that very, very end of it all, you know? It's literally like rehab also for me, going through it all again. Oh, in what way? I don't know, because you know, it was so emotional at the end. So I think for me to talk about it again and emotionally go through it all, it is like therapy. You know, it feels good, but it's as you know, in the movie, I'm so vulnerable. 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 that people like it, I'm just, I'm just relieved because it was so hard. The end. I know, I know for a fact that people are going to love it because it's, it's, it's not just the fact that they're 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.

Totally. Do you know what I'm saying? 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 Mirka. I watched the two of you, I've seen you at everything from the Met Gala to just 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 wondered what that is like you, what do you think it is about Mirka that enables you to go off and become the greatest of all time? Like, what do you think it is about her 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 in 2000, I was young at the time, Mirko was 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 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. 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 was doing rehab, always pain. And then I told her, but 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 ascend of starting to win Wimbledon, top 10, world number one, and she's like, yeah, you're right. You know, let me, I'm done. That's good. And then, and then here we are, me. Oh, I don't know if I should retire. I'm 36, you know, 37, 38.

You know, it's so hard to retire. And I'm thinking of her. She just like went like, okay, I'm done. You know, it's no problem. So what's the big deal? I'm like, well, and I'm here. I'm like, it's the biggest deal in the world to retire and make it so emotional.

And I love the game so much, which she does too. But I think she loved the tour through my career and the travels and the logistics behind it, like being my rock really through thick and thin. And she's been incredible 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 and read a book and go build Lego together and whatever we did, you know, create little corners like this was great. So Mirka 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 have a good time. If he loses, no problem. But if he loses, at problem, but if he loses at least,

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 in the movie as well, she speaks to the camera, which she hasn't done in like 18 years. People don't even know her voice, because she's like, I'm done with the media because once she was taken care of the press.

And I just thought that was not 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 gonna do interviews for like 18 years and she did one just quick one now for the movie. At the end, we just wanted to capture just to see how she felt. 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. 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, 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 been incredible I mean throughout because it hasn't been easy for her by any stretch but so much fun and we look back with great, great memories. We're going to continue this conversation right after this short break. One of my favorite moments is where you're sitting in the change room and I think it's going to be playing against Francis, right? It's like for the doubles match and you're talking about your knee and you say like half joking you go, if I knew it was going to be what it is, you know, and I'm paraphrasing you go, if I knew it was going to be what it is, you know, and I'm paraphrasing you, if I knew it was going to be like this, 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 everything, do you ever take stock and think to yourself, 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, Al-Khwarazigh and Zvereh, five sets and they're chasing each other around the corner. I'm like, I did that too. You know, I did that too many, many times yesterday

at when I was the commencement speaker, I was talking about that, that I played 1526 matches. I had to look it up how many I did. And then you 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 did. And then you realize, my God, there was a lot of tennis, a lot of running. And I, I'm 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 warmups, you know, the stretchings to warm up, to go warm

up, then tennis to take a break, to then warm up the body again, 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 the big deal? It's just tennis. Yes, just tennis, but it's your life and you've been trying to, you try to perform at your best in front of people. And you know that better than anybody. Performing in front of 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 level,

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're not. I actually, I actually agree with you. So yeah, because it's funny. And we talked about this, like, um, 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 going to be like when you wake up. You know what it's going to be like when you go to bed. Very simple actually.

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, there's, there's the, 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, my version of the, of the, you know, no tennis warmup 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 at 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, I stepped away from the table and I went to read, you know, just because I was like,

I don't wanna not know what this is because my job requires it. And now I'm just like, hey, phone off, let's see what happens. But I'm sure it's like that for you, right? Similar to me now as well. And where I feel it 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. Or tomorrow's match, you know, like where all of a sudden you're sitting there, I don't know, you think about tomorrow's practice or tomorrow's 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 fore and on the run, do I hit it back up the line or do I cross court? Hey, you know, you're like, you end up visualizing. Okay, wait, wait, wait, don't rush away from that. 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. 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 coming up in the next few days. 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. 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've played the most against, you know, it's always 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. Now the question is like, are we, is one of us going to back out of it? Or are we just going to 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 sees 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 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 it up, but then does it look like an escape from me or is that a specific play I use? And then all this also statistics stuff came in towards the end of my career which can really make your, how do you say,

your mind crazy. Yeah. How do you feel about that? Because this is something that I've heard from athletes across all disciplines. I remember sitting with a few players from the Premier League and Syria, and they were telling me how 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 because 70% of the time they're going to cross the ball over here. 82% of the time they're going to pass it across this 23% of the time. If you press them, they're going to do completely, but it's all coming as well. And with tennis, I've heard that this is also increasing where now they give players like a book and they say, study this.

These are the percentage odds for what your opponent is going to be doing or not doing in 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. I believe that, I don't know, playing attacking tennis, attacking, breaking down my opponent's backhand is the play. So obviously you're not going to just hit into the backhand all the time and try to break it down.

No, you have to open it up through the forehand so then the backhand corner gets bigger and then obviously you can hit it hard into the backhand corner, spin it into the backhand corner, slice it short, long. You do all these things and then when,'s say the most important moments come around, that's when you then ask your opponent all the questions that you've been massaging that bad side, let's say, so many times that he has his doubts that he obviously doesn't want to hit all those different types of backhands, let's just say. And then you think it through with 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 focus 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 break point he would hit 73% chance that he goes to your backhand. So now what do you do? Do you say like well obviously I'm waiting here on the backhand 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 the floor through the forehand. So you just so that's where I've preferred sometimes not to know. I just go with the feeling of 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 it got so specific,

like a Formula One car, everything so everything becomes predictive. Yeah. Let me let me ask you this on a philosophical level, then, you know, do you so specific, like a Formula One car, everything so... Everything becomes predictive. Yeah. Let me ask you this on a philosophical level then. Hearing you talk about this makes me think of how you can apply this to many things in life. In society, sometimes the downfall of data is that it looks backwards, it doesn't look forwards.

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. They go 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. It's 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 has always gone. It feels like you're flowing. It feels like you're walking through. It feels like you have this idea, you know. But I wonder now what that brain is doing now that there isn't tennis to think about. Because that brain, it's not like your brain just goes away. It's not like your brain just turns off. So what's Roger applying that brain to now? Or do you get to rest that and think of something else? 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 because I have retired just five minutes ago.

Wait, wait, wait, let's pause here. Yeah. This is your resting phase? I mean, resting phase as in, you know, Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Yeah, babe. Roger, I'm gonna call you out. Did I say that the right way? No one's gonna call you out. No. This is your resting phase? Yo, okay, 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 the world. Like this is your resting face? Well, I feel like this I say it because this year in particular, I was very strong with

my wife to say, you know, 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. 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 back six weeks from Asia, from an amazing trip. We're 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. Man, it's so funny you say this. And it's been great for me to do that. So I know I'll get back into it. I can go visit places without the stress of having to practice or actually play another match there. Man, it's so funny you say this. 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 they're just around the corner. So I go to the offices and we talk about stuff. Zendaya just signed with on now. So that's been so cool. Yeah, by the the way 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 out the movie challenges and it's all about tennis. It's all about tennis. But what's interesting, and this is 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. And it's really a movie about relationships. 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 the movie, Zendaya's character and spoiler alerts, if you haven't watched it, just skip this part. Um, Zendaya's character is probably going to be the best tennis player in the world. She suffers an injury. She can't play her role changes dynamically. And it's 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 the director came out and said, no, that's exactly what inspired me. He said he was fascinated by how-

By Mirka suffering through, I was in the 2019 Wimbledon finals. Wimbledon was on, you're on the court, and the camera keeps cutting to America. That's what they do at Wimbledon, right? They always go from player to team, or player to wife, or player to coach. And it's such a tennis thing, because in American football or baseball or football,

they don't always cut to the team, right? But in tennis, it's such a thing. Don't go anywhere, because we got more What Now after this. It feels like you've brought your precision, your thoughtfulness, and your joy out of tennis into another idea, that that is a sports brand. I know you're really thoughtful about why and you know why you do or don't do things. So 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 Swiss 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. I don't know, maybe, you know, Italy when it comes to really beautiful clothes or Japan, when you know that the craftsmanship is really special. And I think the Swiss angle has that as well, you know, and 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, no, in the earlier Swiss, Swiss. 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. 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 culture personality. So the beginning was funny. Look, I didn't feel like, um, uh, 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 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, they were very excited for me. And every year that went by and the more famous I became, the more important it 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, it's

hard to get them out of their shells and come like say like, okay, Roger's the greatest, whatever, he's good, we like him. And when maybe I'm not around you ask Swiss Swiss guy, like, oh, Federer, he's amazing, I was so proud of him. So that's been amazing to hear. Most of them don't even say Federer, they always say Roger, that's what I love the most. Genuinely, everywhere I go, they come up to me and they're like, Trevor, then they're like, Kruzzi, 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 all say Roger, which I think is a testament to how they see you. No, and I've always tried to keep that connection going. I've done countless hours of Swiss media as well, because it would have been easy just to say, let's just keep it to English, save time and stuff. But I always knew I was going to live in Switzerland. I love the country, they've been the best. So it's been great. Right. Could be happier. So let's talk a little bit about, you know,

you enjoying 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 do your thing. You posted a video on Instagram, hitting a golf ball. Right? And golf. Say again, how do you play golf? I wouldn't say I've played golf. I'll say I've hit a golf ball. I don't think what I, what I did wasn't playing. I, I am terrible.

I also don't get it to be honest with you. I really don't. I loved learning tennis and I still play when I get a chance. I enjoy it. Yeah. Golf. I never, you know, but you posted the video. Yeah. And is this what? So first of all, how new are you at it really?

Because it was flawless. No, I know it looked good, but it looked very good. But those, those balls, you know, they have a, 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 where Rafa or Henman and other players, you know, they played all the time, every chance they got, they would go out. Yeah, like Rafa is deep in the game. And me, I was, especially the last, let's say eight years or so, I've maybe played like three, four times, you know, my, my parents both liked it. They liked to go out. So then, uh, 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

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. 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, 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, 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 of 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're already on the right path. Just thinking, I hope it goes straight. Four 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. Our golf is so technical and you know, you stand there, you can take so much time. So effortless, 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. You're getting like, no, let's just adjust it ever so slightly. And every adjustment has an impact. Anyway, why I like golf is going out and then especially everybody started to play as well, the kids, Mirka 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 me a chance to maybe have some fun golf events 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 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 documentary and not think about how important relationships are. You know, when you're watching the final 12 days of your career, one of the scenes that is, I mean, everyone's probably going to cry when they watch it, and it's a good cry, is watching you and the team,

and it's like team Europe, and you're saying goodbye, and it's this whole thing, and everyone has cried. You've taken center stage, and you've spoken, and Rafa's crying, and you're walking into the change rooms together, and then Rafa goes off, and he goes off into another one, because he's still crying, and he's so emotional. This maybe is something that I think is not just a beautiful testament to you, but it's an interesting look at relationships and how we think of them.

There is no greater rival in your career than Rafael Nadal. You know, this is the person who was always between you and another Grand Slam, another Grand, and obviously Novak came in time, but you and Rafa, we think of as 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 how you were starting to get into that 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 how you were still able to compete at the highest level against somebody like that. 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. Um, sure we can take Rafa, but we can also take Novak or Murray or Brinko, whoever we want to take, but let's say take Rafa, uh, to come through a career of 25 years or 15, whatever it's long, a lot of matches, um, a lot of tough battles, like you said, you know, you, you win some, you lose some, um, some of you don't like them, then you like them again.

Um, 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 and we'll look back and go like, that was fun and thank you. And I said that as well in the commencement speech yesterday, I thanked all the players for making me better and showing me my flaws, you know, for making me hopefully a better, not just a tennis player, but also a better person, you know, from making me hopefully a better, not just a tennis player, but also a better person. So I think this last 12 days, you know, that we're going to see coming out now is a beautiful story as a whole, I think, for that message. Because I think a lot of time we tell the other, you know, as a coach or a father or whoever it is, you have to be,

you've got to be tough and you've got to take him 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 a perfect way. Like you said, the segue 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 these co-stars in this movie, which was never supposed to be one.

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, 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 going to be my last game. Maybe you would have to ask them if they're how happy they were to be there. And I think Rafa maybe in particular,

he was not ready for it to go down so emotional and 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, a tad emotional at the end, you know, but I think we, nobody knew that it was going to be this intense because I think there was this beauty. We had this moment where we could just take it all in and our careers were flashing in front of our eyes, because I think there was this beauty. We had this moment where we could just take it all in.

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, Novak can go on and crush 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 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, one of their big rivals going out and seeing it live in slow motion almost go out and it was tough and that's why I think the movie is going to be really beautiful of showing that. And I hope actually in many ways that many future great athletes or not so great, it doesn't matter, will maybe give us that glimpse into the retirement moment. Because we don't know how maybe a Formula One driver, a 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. I mean, Jim asked to do it at 20 something years old. I now had the chance to play till 40, 41, you know, so I think everybody does it in their way. So I think like you said, there's these 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. And 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 the 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 Kasper and Matteo and Cameron and everybody was there. And I'm just saying how happy I am that I get to go first. 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. And it would have been painful for me

to see one of them go first because of injury. So I was supposed to be going first. 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 emotional moment. You can see it how then when I walk out from the press conference, I'm like, Oh God, this was a brutal press conference. But you know, we're getting closer to the match though. We're almost done. So let me ask you this.

When you have that kind of support, when you have that camaraderie, like 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 there I can really thank my wife as well, especially to always keep in touch with everybody. 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. They always tell me, you know, remember to keep in touch with your friends because one day you're maybe going to be injured or your career is over, you're going to come home. What are you going to come home to? You know, an apartment and that's it, a house.

I mean, but a house with no people or an apartment with no friends around, it's going to be, it's not so much fun. It's not a home. So I feel like that's now where 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? It's actually going on to weddings, going to birthday parties, going to things that I could never do. 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 loved the trip to Wimbledon and come to London and then come watch a game with me. I know and I organized a ticket and so forth, but they still took their vacation. 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 a lot of energy and got 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 your career. When we first sat down and had like a real conversation like this was literally my final 12 days of the Daily Show. That's right. Was that your second to last guest? Yeah, second to last guest actually. No, I think you might have been the last guest actually.

How did that feel for you? Did you like the end then? Did you also feel emotional or were you like, so, I actually, this is great, happy. So this is the way I think, and I would love to know how you view it. You know, I think any ending that is good should leave you with a little bit of mourning or regret. Any ending that is good, anything that has ended when it should end, should have you just yearning a little bit for more of it. When I was leaving The Daily Show, I wasn't like, good riddance! There was a part of me going, man, maybe I should have just a little bit

more, maybe. But I think that's what it should be. 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. So definitely for me it was, and then just like you, there was a whole period in between where we couldn't really do much and there were 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. There you go. It's like you going back to come back and celebrate that. And it's like, you know, you going back to Wimbledon. Being in the space, but not being in the space comes with a different feeling. You get to feel new emotions. Yeah. Yeah. You're super distant. Exactly. Exactly. And the same way you talk about with the documentary now is like, you get to live that moment again, but not be in it. 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 limit. 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's the limit. Yeah. So what now I think I'm still in a search mode, I'm not exactly sure what it's going to 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 and 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, I think is a huge priority for me.

And then while we do that, of course, try to have fun with other projects that we're working on. You mentioned so many, we're also working on an Aseline project, you know, that comes out a coffee table book in September, launched going to 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 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 going to be 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. The problem is I think either you're a coach,

mentor or you are a journalist or let's say commentator. I just don't see myself doing that quite yet because I just don't have the time next to being there for my children. So really a bit of a transition phase too and I think it's a good spot to be in. It's a great spot. When you and I think it's a good spot to be in. It's a great spot. Yeah, it's a great spot. When you accept it, 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 needed to dive into the next project. Maybe not. Was I supposed to go there? I feel like everywhere I go right now, I feel like I'm happy to be there. That's amazing, man. Well, Roger, congratulations again. And thank you for sharing it with us. I do think it's wonderful for people to see

all sides of a career that affected them in 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 Fullwell 73. The show is executive produced by Trevor Noah, Ben Winston, Sinaz Yamin, and Jodie Avigan. Our senior producer is Jess Hackl, Marina Henke and Claire Slaughter are our producers. Music Mixing and Mastering by Hannes Brown. Thank you so much for listening. Join me next Thursday for another episode of What Now?