Game, set, mangia!
US Open stars are loading up on the carbs before their matches at a tony Midtown Italian joint — where they dine near each other at night before trying to take one another down in Flushing.
“Jannik Sinner, he like the pasta with the bolognese sauce,” said Gustavo Hodzic, a co-owner of the hot spot Osteria Delbianco, to The Post on Tuesday, referring to the 24-year-old tennis sensation from Italy.
The East 49th Street eatery is so popular with Open aces that No.1-ranked Sinner and his 22-year-old court rival, No. 2 star Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, showed up to dinner there on the same night last week.
“We run into each other. Just was a coincidence,” Alcaraz later told reporters of the pair’s chance encounter Thursday around 9 p.m. “It is a good restaurant.”
It must be. The Spaniard dropped in a second time Monday.
The 2022 US Open victor has since advanced to the semifinals in Queens after knocking out the Czech Republic’s Jiří Lehečka — another Delbianco devotee — on Tuesday in straight sets.
Sinner, the defending champ, will do battle in the quarterfinals Wednesday with fellow countryman Lorenzo Musetti, who himself dined at the Osteria on Sunday.
This pasta clearly packs a punch.
Players such as Andrey Rublev, Lorenzo Musetti, Leylah Fernandez and Jasmine Paolini have also eaten at the restaurant during the tournament.
Convenience is key. Many tennis pros stay in Midtown East hotels, in close proximity to the eatery, whose cuisine is inspired by chef Diego Bigucci’s upbringing in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. There’s also the restaurant’s warm Italian vibe.
“They feel very relaxed [here]. They feel at home,” co-owner Dorjan Kalaja said of the space’s famous tennis customers.
“They love it here,” he said. “They create such a wonderful atmosphere when they are here. People love them. Now we have a personal relationship with them.”
But Sinner, who hails from Innichen in northern Italy, is special to the place.
“Sinner, he like to cook — a good Italian cook,” Bigucci said. “Simple, traditional Italian cook. The father was a chef, worked in the kitchen as well. He likes the more traditional Italian food, what we do here.
“I’m proud of him.”
Although the meeting between the top seed and his fellow tennis titan from Spain was unplanned, the duo didn’t clash at the eatery like they do on court, Hodzic noted.
“Sinner came first, and after that, as soon as Alcaraz came in, they start talking and stuff, you know, like friends,” the chef said. “They talked, they laughed. [They had] a very good time.”
Sinner, who first started dining at Osteria Delbianco in 2020 shortly after it opened, knows his noodles, workers said.
But he’s also a fan of the veal and scallops.
On Monday, Alcaraz scarfed down the gnocchi with a “little ragu and truffle” and with a side of grilled fish and roasted potatoes, Hodzic said.
In the past, the Spanish ace has enjoyed the chicken diavolo and and risotto, alongside salmon.
He brought along a huge entourage of 11, including his father Carlos Alcaraz González, and his coach, former World No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero, on Monday.
“Around 8:30 p.m., Alcaraz’s coach came in the door with two other people,” Hodzic said. “We were busy. He told me, like, ‘Do you have a table for us?’ I said, ‘Of course.’ That corner table I left empty — if somebody coming, a player.”
Now into week two of the Open, there aren’t many players left standing.
But Alcaraz and Sinner are still going strong.
So far this year, the Spanish hotshot and Italian big-hitter have met at finals of the French Open, where Alcaraz won, and Wimbledon, where Sinner took the trophy.
Next up could be at Sunday’s final in Arthur Ashe Stadium — or over a plate of pasta.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
