U.S. Open champ Emma Raducanu withdraws from Kremlin Cup

Emma Raducanu enjoyed a bit of a rough start to her autumn after she became arguably the new top face of women's tennis over the summer. First, she was unceremoniously bounced from the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells via a second-round loss to Aliaksandra Sasnovich after the reigning U.S. Open champion received a wild-card entry into that tournament. 

Now fans will have to wait a bit longer to see Raducanu back in action.

Per Reuters (h/t ESPN), Raducanu withdrew from next week's Kremlin Cup in Moscow on Friday.

"Unfortunately, I've had to make a tournament schedule change and won't be able to play Moscow this year but I hope to compete there and in front of the Russian fans next year," the 18-year-old world No. 22 said in a statement. 

"I look forward to returning to the tour in the next couple of weeks." 

The Kremlin Cup is scheduled to begin Monday and run through Oct. 24. According to Sky Sports, Raducanu remains on track to compete in the Transylvania Open held in Romania from Oct. 25 through Halloween. 

"I am extremely excited to play at the Transylvania Open, in front of Romanian fans," she explained. "My father is from Romania, so to participate for the first time in a WTA competition in the country where he was born is a special moment and I can't wait to get to Cluj."

Raducanu's defeat at the hands of Sasnovich was her first match since she won the year's final Grand Slam.