Wimbledon’s Cobolli explains cheeky homage to Man Utd star Cunha’s celebration

Manchester United supporters know Matheus Cunha’s trademark “surfing” goal celebration well by now, but few would have expected to see it recreated on Wimbledon’s Court One. Italian seventh seed Flavio Cobolli produced his own version of the routine after battling back to beat Karen Khachanov on Saturday, and he has since explained exactly why he did it.

Cobolli fell a set behind before fighting back to win in five sets against the Russian. Once victory was secured, he turned to the crowd and mimicked Cunha’s celebration, much to the delight of tennis fans who may not have immediately recognised the reference.

A bet born from watching the World Cup

Asked why he had chosen to copy the Brazilian forward, Cobolli revealed it stemmed from a wager with his coach while watching the World Cup together. “It was a bet with my coach,” he said. “We were watching the World Cup and this is the Brazilian striker [Cunha] that I love to repeat.”

Wimbledon’s official Instagram account shared a clip of Cobolli’s celebration, and Cunha himself soon responded with the message: “Love that @Flavio_Cobbo.” The Italian followed up with his own post, writing: “Into the second week… Cunha’s way.”

Cunha’s celebration and his season so far

Cunha, 27, joined United from Wolverhampton Wanderers last summer in a £62.5 million move and scored ten goals in 35 appearances during his debut campaign at Old Trafford. He previously played for Atletico Madrid, Hertha Berlin and RB Leipzig earlier in his career.

The forward has explained the origins of his celebration before, saying: “Surfing has become a big part of my life. To bring this into football and show everyone how happy I am to play football and surf, I have to do it.”

Cunha has 27 caps for Brazil and has scored four goals for his country, two of which have come at the ongoing World Cup, including in a 3-0 win over Haiti. He is set to feature again as Brazil face Norway in the last sixteen, though head coach Carlo Ancelotti has suggested Cunha may have to settle for a place on the bench.

Ancelotti confirmed that Neymar is fit to play the full ninety minutes, saying: “Neymar can play 90 minutes… and he can play with Vinicius Jr. I think they will play together.” Should Brazil progress, they would face either England or Mexico in the quarter-finals.

Cobolli’s Wimbledon run continues

Cobolli will now look to build on the momentum when he takes on fifth seed Alex de Minaur in the round of sixteen on Monday. The Italian has already beaten Mariano Navone and James Duckworth on his way to the last sixteen at the All England Club.