The 2012 U.S. Open moves on to Day 5 on Friday at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Andy Roddick has become the headline story in Flushing with his Thursday news conference where he announced that he would retire after the season's final slam. Roddick will start the evening session at Arthur Ashe Stadium at 7 p.m. ET, facing Aussie Benard Tomic in second-round action. The crowd will certainly be fully behind the one-time champ in what could be his last match as a professional.
The afternoon session on Ashe will feature three of the game's top stars. Sam Stosur begins play against American Varvara Lepchenko at 11 a.m. ET. No. 2 Novak Djokovic will face Brazilian Rogerio Dutra Silva in the second match, which won't begin before 1 p.m. ET. Djokovic will be the heavy favorite to move on to the third round as he continues his title defense. Wrapping up the afternoon session will be Maria Sharapova, who faces Mallory Burdette. The American wild card qualifier has emerged as one of the surprise stories in the first week but it will be an altogether different task facing Sharapova.
The Tennis Channel will carry the morning coverage, coming on the air at 10:30 a.m. ET. ESPN2 will then take over at 1 p.m. ET and broadcast the rest of the day's action through the evening session. You can also watch online on a live stream at U.S. Open Live.
For more on the 2012 U.S. Open, please be sure to check out our Tennis hub and SBNation.com for all the latest news and updates.