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Osaka's match against Marie Bouzkova will mark the 23-year-old's
first appearance at a Grand Slam since dropping out of French
Open in June and skipping Wimbledon to protect her mental
health.
"Recently I've been asking myself why do I feel the way I do and
I realize one of the reasons is because internally, I think I'm
never good enough," the Japanese player said in a social media
post on Sunday.
"I'm gonna try to celebrate myself and my accomplishments more,
I think we all should."
Osaka has emerged as the global face for the sport on the back
of her four Grand Slam triumphs and outspoken views on racial
injustice and police violence.
She defeated Victoria Azarenka in three sets in last year's U.S.
Open final before going on to win the Australian Open in
February.
"Your life is your own and you shouldn't value yourself on other
people's standards," said Osaka, who is seeded third at Flushing
Meadows this year.
"I know I give my heart to everything I can and if that's not
good enough for some, then my apologies, but I can't burden
myself with those expectations anymore."
Osaka failed to advance past the third round of her last two
tournaments but can look forward to the support of
tennis-starved New York fans at Flushing Meadows, where no
spectators were allowed last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The U.S. Open runs from Aug. 30 to Sept. 12.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Editing by Peter
Rutherford)
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