Mike Cormack

Novak Djokovic holds his head during his match against Julien Benneteau

Seeing Novak Djokovic gut out a tough match on a blazing hot hard court is nothing new.

Neither is hearing him complain about an ailment following the match.

The world’s second best tennis player, at least according to a computer, overcame the heat and Julien Bettenteau of France to advance to the third round of the Rogers Cup Wednesday 7-5, 7-5.

Following the match Djokovic offered up that he wasn’t feeling the best and was suffering from "heat issues."

There’s no doubt it about it: it was hot on Wednesday in Toronto on the grounds of York University. The humidex approached 40 degrees Celsius and it was surely a few degrees warmer on the court.

It wasn’t the first time the heat has gotten to Djokovic.

Earlier this year at the Australian Open, the same heat issues forced him to retire from a match against Andy Roddick.

Coincidentally, Djokovic’s won his lone Grand Slam title in 2008 under the very same Australian sun.

And if having just read about Roddick, Djokovic and injuries caused your eyebrow to rise, it was with good reason.

Two years ago prior to their U.S. Open quarter-final match, Roddick was asked what he thought about Djokovic’s seemingly litany of health issues.

The results, as you can see below, were hilarious to everyone but Djokovic.

Djokovic would have the last laugh however, taking their match the following night, 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5), but in his on-court, post-match interview his emotions got the better of him and as a result, the New York fans turned on him.

Like Boris Becker, John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors before him, Djokovic is an emotional player who wears his heart on his sleeve—on the court and in the press centre—and it’s proved to be both a blessing and a curse.

For while Djokovic admitted Wednesday he needs to be emotional to play his best, his tendency to speak too candidly has sometimes moved the focus away from his performance and onto his perspective.

Take Wednesday for example.

Had Djokovic not talked so extensively about the heat, perhaps the post-match focus would have turned to his rise to No. 2 and whether he thinks he can one day dethrone Nadal at the top.

Instead, the majority of his press conference was dominated with questions about the heat and what he can do to overcome it.

So here's hoping it's a little cooler when Djokovic takes the court again, for his sake and ours.

*** Thursday’s Match of the Day:

(5) Robin Soderling vs. David Nalbandian, 11:00 a.m.

Head-to-head: Nalbandian leads 5-1

Last meeting: Stockholm, Sweden, 2008 (hard court). Nalbandian won 6-2, 5-7, 6-3.

The Skinny: A lot has changed since these two men last met two years ago. Injuries saw Nalbandian plummet from the Top 10 all the way out of the Top 100 while his Swedish opponent Thursday, Soderling, is playing the best tennis of his life at a career-high ranking of No. 5. Nalbandian has won 10 straight matches, but at some point fatigue might become a factor given this is just his second event coming back from a hamstring injury. The victor earns a date in the quarterfinals with the winner of the Andy Murray-Gael Monfils match.