Food Court: Arnaldi dishes on Vegemite, ice cream & more

Matteo Arnaldi is a rapidly rising Italian who at 23 has already established himself inside the Top 50 of the PIF ATP Rankings. Arnaldi will try to make his mark again on Friday at the BNP Paribas Open, where he will take on defending champion Carlos Alcaraz.

ATPTour.com caught up with the Italian about his favourite foods, if his diet changes based on whether he is competing in a tournament, why he eats ice cream the night before a match and more.

Let's say you have to cook tonight. What would you cook and why?
Normal food, we just cook classic pasta. That could be different sauces. It could be a carbonara, amatriciana or cacio e pepe, whatever. But it's I would say more plain if there is a tournament close by, so I'm a bit more healthy. I'm pretty classic. Like if I have to practise, I eat pretty much plain. So I just eat chicken or fish with pasta and that's it.

How would you rate yourself as a chef?
I would say seven out of 10. I'm not bad. I'm not the best. But I'm not bad. I can do the Italian things very well.

Do you make your own pasta?
I know how to do it but too much work. My grandma can do it!

What's your guilty pleasure?
I have to say one thing, but it's not Italian. It's a dessert, it's a nutella crepe. That's good. To be honest, I really like salty stuff like the carbonara, main entrees. But if I have to be guilty, it's a cheat day or something, then I will go with a nutella crepe.

How often can you do a cheat day?
I don't do much. Usually I just have one after I lose or after I finish the tournament. When I win the tournament or the day I lose. Just to switch up a bit, switch off a bit to recharge and take a little break from staying always there.

Is it hard sometimes to keep your focus with it?
When you travel to find the right food that you want to eat every day, you don't go in the same restaurant. You can always sometimes change. You can go more often in one, but you change. So at the start it's always a bit tough.

The night before a match do you have something you always eat?
I think usually pasta. Pasta is the only thing that I eat always if I have to play because it makes me feel at home. Sometimes if it's not an early match, first match in the morning, I eat ice cream. Chocolate and vanilla or pistacchio also.

What about right before a match for lunch or dinner before you have to play?
Pasta is always there. Pasta basically is every meal. I think in a year it happens three times that I don't eat pasta. It depends. If I have a match straightaway after lunch, I would go just pasta. Pasta and maybe some fruit or a crostata. If it's like third match from 11 and I have more time, I go for pasta with chicken.

How long before a match will you eat?
Two hours to get my time after eating.

What do you eat for a snack on court?
Just an energy bar or cashews. I always have cashews on court. I've done that for a long time. I think just after I finished the juniors. With my nutritionist I tried once. They said just try it because it's a thing that you can find anywhere. And so I tried and then was like, okay, I kind of liked it.

If you're not in a tournament week, is there something different that you'll eat?
No, no, I'm pretty much the same. I'm very strict with the food. I'm one that if I'm not strict, I would eat like crazy. Because I eat so much. I'm lucky that I can eat as much as I want and I'm still skinny like this.

During the tournament I can eat a bit more. If I have a long match of three hours I have a bit more variety and a bit more grams of food. But it's always the same basically.

What's something people might be surprised that you like?
I think I'm pretty normal. I kind of like vegemite. My girlfriend is from Australia, so I started to eat it.

If you could have one meal anywhere, what would your favourite meal be?
I'd go the classic Italian way, pizza and carbonara. Classic margherita, but the napolitano pizza.

What's something you would never eat?
Snail. I would never eat that, it's impossible. I will never eat that.

What is something fans might be surprised about with a tennis player's diet?
Post-match we eat a lot. I think everyone post-match, maybe they think that we have to eat some kind of stuff that make us recovery or anything. We pay attention, but it's more about quantity sometimes. I played in New York four hours. After I went there I had a starter, main, second, dessert and everything just to recover.

We burn a lot of calories. Personally, I take it easy. I'm strict, I follow a diet and I'm pretty strict on that. But if I have to eat an ice cream, I eat an ice cream. I don't have a problem to say today I'm not going to eat because tomorrow after the match if I see a good ice cream... Okay, maybe I'm not going to eat a chocolate cake with the inside that is liquid and amazing. I would love that, but maybe I don't do it before the match. But an ice cream or something, I would do it easy.