Victor Ciulei

The Prodigal Son

[aether @bluewdrift]

Keep your problems smaller than your life. A flat tire is a flat tire. A bad meeting is a bad meeting. A canceled flight is just an extra two hours. These things become catastrophes when you let them. But they stay manageable when you remember the depth of your real life- the people you love, the work you care about, the beautiful years still ahead. Zoom out. Fit your reaction to the size of the problem.

[NASA @NASA]

Liftoff.

The Artemis II mission launched from @NASAKennedy at 6:35pm ET (2235 UTC), propelling four astronauts on a journey around the Moon.

Artemis II will pave the way for future Moon landings, as well as the next giant leap — astronauts on Mars.

[#AusOpen @AustralianOpen]

History 🏆

Career slam complete, take a bow @carlosalcaraz 🇪🇸

@wwos • @espn • @tntsports • @wowowtennis • #AO26

[#AusOpen @AustralianOpen]

Exceptional. Elite. Elena 👑

Elena Rybakina is the 2026 Australian Open CHAMPION 🏆

[Milos Raonic @milosraonic]

The time has come, I am retiring from tennis. This is a moment you know will come one day, but somehow you never feel ready for it. This is as ready as I will ever be. Tennis has been my love and obsession for most of my life.

I have been the luckiest person to get to live out and fulfill my dreams. I got to show up every day and focus on just getting better, seeing where that will take me, and playing a game I was introduced to at 8 years old by complete luck. Somehow, this became my entire obsession and childhood, and then became my profession and life.

I am thankful for the incredible fans I got to compete and practice in front of all over the world. They got to see me shining at my brightest and managing the hardest of moments on the court. They got to see me grow up. Thank you to each and every one who stopped, even for a moment, to watch and support me.

Thank you to my coaches and team, who took time away from their families and homes to be on the road with me as I pursue my dream and goals. I am grateful for your guidance and teachings.

Thank you to the ATP tour, the ITF, and all the Grand Slams. I dreamt of playing at your great tournaments, and I got to have those amazing experiences surrounded by great people, trying their best for the beautiful game of tennis.

Thank you to all my colleagues and opponents. I looked up to you growing up, I looked up to you throughout my career, and I will continue to look up to you as a fan. I became the best player I could be, I am a better person, and I learned a lot of life’s most important lessons thanks to the challenges of competing with you all week in and week out for more than 2 decades.

Thank you to Canada. My family and I came over more than 30 years ago. Thanks to you, I pursued tennis, thanks to you, it changed my family's life, and I enjoyed every moment of the opportunity to represent you all around the world.

Mom, Dad, Jelena, and Momir, I am so incredibly thankful that you all put aside your lives at many moments for me to have a chance to chase a dream. It was only possible of becoming a reality thanks to you. None of this is possible without the consistent effort and emotional support you put into my dreams. As lucky as I am to have found tennis, it pales in comparison to how lucky I am to have you as my parents, sister, and brother.
I hope to make my wife and son proud every day and I hope I can be the kind of family for them as mine was for me.

A big part of my tennis journey has been the incredible people I have been fortunate to meet all over the world. On many occasions, they have been wonderful mentors who have given me the time and guidance to figure out the rest of my life. I am thankful to them for making the burden of many of my life’s most important questions a little easier. Their care and time have made this process much clearer and inspiring.

What’s next? I won’t be slowing down. There is so much more life to live, and I am as motivated and hungry as I was in 2011, when I broke through on tour. I will put the same effort and intensity into the next thing. If I can pursue the same excellence as I did with my tennis, just trying to be better every day, and let’s see where it takes me.

[José Morgado @josemorgado]

Sorana Cirstea, who had a great second half of the year, announces 2026 will be her last season on tour.

She is world #43 at 35yo.

Such a lovely text:

[Tennis TV @TennisTV]

The moment Vacherot completed a fairytale run 🙌

#RolexShanghaiMasters

[Gael Monfils @Gael_Monfils]

I’ve got something to share with you.

[Ballon d'Or @ballondor]

OUSMANE DEMBÉLÉ IS THE 2025 MEN'S BALLON D'OR!

#ballondor

[Conan O'Brien @ConanOBrien]

The suspension of @jimmykimmel and the promise to silence other Late Night hosts for criticizing the administration should disturb everyone on the Right, Left, and Center.  It’s wrong and anyone with a conscience knows it’s wrong.

[José Morgado @josemorgado]

Simply THE BEST SPORT IN THE WORLD.

Period.

[Matthew McConaughey @McConaughey]

Thank you @janniksin @carlosalcaraz for the absolute elite mano y mano competition. Wow. Congrats Carlos.

[Oleg S. @AnnaK_4ever]

And another thing:
5 hours 29 minutes of high octane play — and not a single toilet break, no tactical MTOs, no arguing with umpire to disrupt the opponent's rhythm, no hysterical yelling at own's box, no cheating (on the contrary, both corrected wrong calls made in their favor).

[Emmanuel Macron @EmmanuelMacron]

L-am sunat pe @NicusorDanRO și l-am felicitat pentru alegerea sa în fruntea României.

În pofida numeroaselor încercări de manipulare, românii au ales în această seară democrația, statul de drept și Uniunea Europeană.

Franţa va fi alături de dumneavoastră pentru a consolida parteneriatul nostru și pentru a lucra împreună pentru o Europă mai puternică, mai suverană și mai independentă.

[Victor Ciulei @zbenga2]

@MovieNumbers Hello, can you please update your site for 2024 and 2025 domestic and worldwide box-office? It seems it hasn't been updated for a month or so

[José Morgado @josemorgado]

Simona Halep says goodbye one last time.

2 Grand Slam titles
2 time year-end world #1
64 weeks as world #1
9 WTA 1000 titles
24 singles titles

Incredible career.

[Roger Federer @rogerfederer]

Vamos, @RafaelNadal!

As you get ready to graduate from tennis, I’ve got a few things to share before I maybe get emotional.

Let’s start with the obvious: you beat me—a lot. More than I managed to beat you. You challenged me in ways no one else could. On clay, it felt like I was stepping into your backyard, and you made me work harder than I ever thought I could just to hold my ground. You made me reimagine my game—even going so far as to change the size of my racquet head, hoping for any edge.

I’m not a very superstitious person, but you took it to the next level. Your whole process. All those rituals. Assembling your water bottles like toy soldiers in formation, fixing your hair, adjusting your underwear... All of it with the highest intensity. Secretly, I kind of loved the whole thing. Because it was so unique—it was so you.

And you know what, Rafa, you made me enjoy the game even more. 

OK, maybe not at first. After the 2004 Australian Open, I achieved the #1 ranking for the first time. I thought I was on top of the world. And I was—until two months later, when you walked on the court in Miami in your red sleeveless shirt, showing off those biceps, and you beat me convincingly. All that buzz I’d been hearing about you—about this amazing young player from Mallorca, a generational talent, probably going to win a major someday—it wasn’t just hype.

We were both at the start of our journey and it’s one we ended up taking together. Twenty years later, Rafa, I have to say: What an incredible run you’ve had. Including 14 French Opens—historic! You made Spain proud... you made the whole tennis world proud.

I keep thinking about the memories we’ve shared. Promoting the sport together. Playing that match on half-grass, half-clay. Breaking the all-time attendance record by playing in front of more than 50,000 fans in Cape Town, South Africa. Always cracking each other up. Wearing each other out on the court and then, sometimes, almost literally having to hold each other up during trophy ceremonies.

I’m still grateful you invited me to Mallorca to help launch the Rafa Nadal Academy in 2016. Actually, I kind of invited myself. I knew you were too polite to insist on me being there, but I didn’t want to miss it. You have always been a role model for kids around the world, and Mirka and I are so glad that our children have all trained at your academies. They had a blast and learned so much—like thousands of other young players. Although I always worried my kids would come home playing tennis as lefties.

And then there was London—the Laver Cup in 2022. My final match. It meant everything to me that you were there by my side—not as my rival but as my doubles partner. Sharing the court with you that night, and sharing those tears, will forever be one of the most special moments of my career.

Rafa, I know you’re focused on the last stretch of your epic career. We will talk when it’s done. For now, I just want to congratulate your family and team, who all played a massive role in your success. And I want you to know that your old friend is always cheering for you, and will be cheering just as loud for everything you do next.

Rafa that!

Best always, your fan, 

Roger

[USA Basketball @usabasketball]

The Greatest Dynasty EVER

The 🇺🇸 #USABWNT wins an eighth-straight Olympic Gold.

[Victor Ciulei @zbenga2]

That was so close, dumb play a lot of times, but seems they got this
USA takes gold and the tops the medal table!! #USABWNT