From Novak Djokovic & Jannik Sinner to Emma Raducanu & Cilian Murphy: Fans jokingly decode Carlos Alcaraz's cryptic Indian Wells 'N' message

Carlos Alcaraz swept aside Felix Auger-Aliassime in the pair's Round-of-32 clash at the Indian Wells Masters. The Spaniard sealed his place in the Round of 16 at the ATP Masters 1000 event with a dominant 6-2, 6-3 win over the Canadian.

There have been question marks surrounding Alcaraz's form since his 2023 Wimbledon Championships triumph. However, the ATP World No. 2 and defending Indian Wells champion has so far looked menacing in the Californian desert. Apart from his first-set blip against Matteo Arnaldi in the second round, he has barely allowed his opponents to get close to him.

Following his resounding victory over Auger-Aliassime, Alcaraz signed on the camera with the words:

"N See you soon!"

Alcaraz also posted the alphabet later on social media with a winking emoji with its tongue sticking out.

While the two-time Grand Slam winner walked away from the camera in smiles, fans on social media were rather perplexed by what the Spaniard meant by the letter 'N'. As a result, it didn't take long for them to try and decode Alcaraz's message.

One fan wondered if the 'N' stood for Novak Djokovic or Cameron Norrie, while another seemed quite confident that it referred to the 24-time Grand Slam champion.

"Is he hinting at Novak? Norrie? What's your guess??"

"Novak he's calling his shot!"

Another fan edited a still of the 'N' Alcaraz wrote and made it look like the Spaniard had written 'Jannik', which refers to Jannik Sinner, the reigning Australian Open champion.

Another fan twisted Emma Raducanu's name to take a guess and jokingly asked:

"Nemma Raducanu?"

Yet another fan joked that the 'N' stood for Cillian Murphy, who bagged the Best Actor award at this year's Oscars for his stellar performance in Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer.

"cilliaN murphy oscar wiNNer omg so trueeee"

Here are some more reactions from tennis fans:

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Fabian Marozsan awaits Carlos Alcaraz at Indian Wells

Fabian Marozsan (L) and Carlos Alcaraz (R) at the 2023 Italian Open

Carlos Alcaraz is set to face Hungarian Fabian Marozsan next in the Round of 16 at the Indian Wells Masters. The Spaniard has faced Marozsan only once before on the ATP Tour, and it was the unfancied Hungarian who emerged triumphant on that occasion.

Their sole meeting came at the 2023 Italian Open, where Alcaraz was one of the favorites to win the title. Surprisingly, Marozsan outclassed an out-of-sorts Alcaraz in the first set to clinch it 6-3.

The Spaniard gave a much better account of himself in the second set, but in the end, it was Marozsan who won it 7-6(4) to oust the World No. 2 from the tournament in the Round of 32.

The winner of their match in the fourth round in Indian Wells will face either Alexander Zverev or Alex de Minaur in the quarterfinals.