(CNN) If world rankings told the whole story, you'd think Novak Djokovic's slump shows no signs of easing.
But the pure statistics might just be blurring the picture for the struggling 12-time grand slam champion.
Even though the Serb found himself outside the top 20 this week for the first time since he was a precocious 19-year-old in 2006, his last outing on a tennis court suggests a brighter future.
And with the French Open starting Sunday, the upturn may well continue some five kilometers west of the Eiffel Tower.
Indeed, Djokovic says spirits are high heading into Roland Garros, the grand slam he conquered in 2016 for the last of his major titles.
"Looking back two or three months, this is the best that I've felt on the court, by far," Djokovic, just turned 31, told reporters at the Italian Open Saturday after testing heavy French Open favorite Rafael Nadal before losing the semifinal 7-6 6-3.
READ: Who can stop Rafael Nadal in Paris?
The faces of Roland Garros 2018
The 2018 French Open will take place from May 21-June 10 on the clay courts of Roland Garros in Paris.
Serena Williams turned heads in a black catsuit in her first-round match at Roland Garros, saying it made her feel like a "warrior princess." She also said it helped with ongoing blood clots following the birth of her daughter last year.
Rafa Nadal is favorite to take the men's singles title, which would be his 11th grand slam victory on the clay.
Serena Williams is playing her first grand slam for 16 months after maternity leave and is bidding for a fourth French Open crown and a record-equaling 24th major title, including both pre and Open era events.
Novak Djokovic hasn't won a grand slam title since 2016 and has slipped to No. 22 in the world, but he enters the French Open on a good run of form.
Young German Alexander Zverev is touted as the future of tennis but has struggled at grand slams so far in his career, his best result being the fourth round.
Andy Murray continues his recovery from hip surgery and won't be at Roland Garros -- a tournament he finished runner-up at in 2016.
Maria Sharapova is a two-time French Open champion but has missed the last two events at Roland Garros after serving a ban for testing positive for the illegal substance meldonium.
Pauline Parmentier will be flying the flag for France in the women's draw having received a wild card entry for this year's competition. She reached the fourth round in 2014.
Pat Cash claimed his sole grand slam singles title at Wimbledon in 1987. He'll be giving CNN his insight as a former player throughout the French Open.
A year on from her return to tennis following a knife attack in her home, Petra Kvitova says she is living a "dream."
Yannick Noah is still the only French man to win the French Open, since the Open era began in 1968. Noah's triumph at Roland Garros came way back in 1983.
Juan Martin del Potro's lone major title was the US Open in 2009. However he's struggled with injury since beating Roger Federer in that 2009 US Open final, missing almost the entire 2010 season after undergoing surgery on his wrist.
After slipping outside the world's top 400, Del Potro returned to the top five in 2013 but another wrist injury meant more surgery and led him to miss the majority of the 2014 and 2015 season. But earlier this year Del Potro ended Federer's best ever start to a season to become the first Argentine to win a top-tier Masters series event when he was victorious at Indian Wells.
Serena Williams pulled out injured ahead of her much-anticipated fourth-round match against old rival Maria Sharapova.
World No. 72 Marco Cecchinato beat David Goffin to reach the French Open quarterfinals where he will play Novak Djokovic. Cecchinato described his win over Goffin as the "best moment" of his life. He shortly followed up with a new best moment as he beat Djokovic in four sets.
Diminutive Argentine Diego Schwartzman, who stands at 5 feet 7 inches tall, proved size isn't everything when he toppled 6-foot-8 Kevin Anderson to reach the quarterfinals.
World No.1 Simona Halep is bidding for a first grand slam title after three previous losing final appearances in majors.
'Machine-like at brilliant best'
Rome is dubbed the "Eternal City" and when Djokovic claimed the French Open to become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to win four straight grand slams, it felt like his dominance would last forever.
His peak level arguably usurped his two main rivals at their best, Nadal and Roger Federer, against whom he still holds winning records.
However, what he called "private issues," an injury to his serving elbow that required surgery this year and seemingly a shift in attitude -- the ruthlessness on court vanished -- all contributed to the unexpected downturn.
"The fact that he was machine like at his brilliant best, it was the total of hours, thousands and thousands of hours of practice," six-time grand slam winner Boris Becker, part of Djokovic's coaching setup in his heyday, told CNN Sport.
"If you haven't done that for a year or even longer, then ultimately even though it's Novak Djokovic, a perfectionist, he will look ordinary.
"And I think it's not that easy being the best. You have to do a lot of sacrifices, a lot of repetition, a lot of work and that's why only a few reach the summit."
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French Open 2018: Title No. 11 for Rafa?
Rafael Nadal won his record-extending 11th title at the French Open when he beat Dominic Thiem on Sunday in Paris.
The Spaniard won his first French Open on his debut as a 19-year-old at Roland Garros and has only lost two matches since then.
Simona Halep beat Sloane Stephens in three sets Saturday to win the French Open and her first major after losing three grand slam finals.
Halep finally got her name on the trophy, 10 years after winning the junior title at Roland Garros.
Nadal had kept alive his bid for an unprecedented 11th French Open title with a dominant semifinal win over Juan Martin del Potro in Paris.
Austria's Dominic Thiem is the pretender to Rafael Nadal's claycourt throne after booking a place in his first French Open final with victory against Marco Cecchinato.
Nadal was rattled for a set and a half against Argentine Diego Schwartzman but he took advantage of an overnight rain delay and returned with renewed vigor to win in four sets to reach the semifinals.
Schwartzman ended Nadal's 37-set winning streak at Roland Garros after taking the opener, but rain delayed their quarterfinal overnight and he went down in four sets to the resurgent Spaniard.
Halep had reached her second consecutive French Open final with a straight sets win over Garbine Murguruza of Spain. Halep retained her world No.1 spot as she bids for a first grand slam title.
Reigning US Open champion Stephens (right) beat fellow American Madison Keys to reach her first French Open final.
Two-time champion Maria Sharapova, playing her first French Open since returning from a 15-month suspension for taking the banned heart drug meldonium, lost to Muguruza in the quarterfinals.
Sharapova was due to meet old rival Serena Williams in the fourth round but the American pulled out ahead of the match with a shoulder injury.
Novak Djokovic is undergoing a slump in his stellar career but was hoping to use the French Open as a springboard for better things. However, he lost out to Italy's Marco Cecchinato in the quarterfinals.
The unseeded Cecchinato, who had never previously won a round at a grand slam, beat Djokovic, the 12-time major champion and 2016 French Open winner, in four sets.
World No. 3 Alexander Zverev was expected to be one of the main challengers to Nadal but after squeezing through three five-set matches he fell to Thiem in straight sets in the quarterfinals.
Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson was at Roland Garros watching Williams beat Julia Goerges in the third round.
No Frenchman has triumphed on home clay since Yannick Noah in 1983 and the drought continued this year. No French players made the fourth round.
Williams turned heads in this black catsuit as she made her first grand slam appearance for 16 months following the birth of her daughter in September. The 23-time grand slam champion said it made her feel like a "warrior princess" but added it helped with her circulation.
The Williams sisters teamed up in doubles, but after overpowering Japan's Miyu Kato and Shuko Aoyama (pictured) in their first match they crashed out in the third round.
Nadal is known as the "King of Clay" since winning his first French Open on his debut as a 19-year-old. No player has won the same grand slam as many times as the Spaniard has in Paris.
The French Open oozes Parisian chic and is a springtime rite in the capital.
Djokovic's recent results suggested he could be turning the corner in his recent struggles. A win on day two was a decent start for the 2016 champion, who had slipped to 22 in the world.
On day one, defending champion Jelena Ostapenko was dethroned by Kateryna Kozlova.
Bad news traveled in two as Venus Williams also suffered a shock exit after losing to Wang Qiang.
Something had to give
Djokovic only won two small tournaments in 2017 -- his last title was last July -- and he has failed to exceed the quarterfinals at a major since the 2016 US Open.
This March, he fell in the second round of both Indian Wells and Miami, two of tennis' most prestigious events, which he has won a combined 11 times.
"I saw the matches in Miami and Indian Wells and I was a little bit worried," added Becker.
Something had to give — and it did for the man dubbed "Superman" in Serbia.
Djokovic ended his partnership with tennis legend Andre Agassi in April. Out, too, went the flamboyant, former world No. 8 Radek Stepanek as his coach.
Instead, he reunited with long-time coach Marian Vajda, as well as fitness trainer Gebhard "Phil" Gritsch.
Djokovic's relationship with Agassi had seemed an ideal fit since the American sustained a similar dip in his career before undergoing a renaissance that included three Australian Open titles. Melbourne was Djokovic's stronghold through 2016.
Agassi has also helped thousands of underprivileged children to get an education in Las Vegas, where he resides, and elsewhere in the US, and Djokovic's foundation assists preschool aged children.
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Acrimonious Agassi split?
When Djokovic confirmed the coaching changes days later on his website, there was praise for Stepanek yet barely a mention of Agassi.
The 48-year-old Agassi said in a statement to ESPN that the pair "too often found ourselves agreeing to disagree."
"I don't know anything that went on but you have two of the greats who have every right to have strong views about the game and how to go about being one's best," Todd Martin, another ex coach of Djokovic's and Agassi's former Davis Cup teammate, told CNN Sport.
"You've got west at the 'nth' degree coming from Vegas and the east.
"And then you have lives. Andre has forged an amazing life for himself, both with his family and with his work in education.
"If they agreed to disagree, that's a big sacrifice and that doesn't make any sense for someone like Andre."
An interview request made for Agassi by CNN.com was declined by one of his representatives.
Djokovic and Vajda, meanwhile, share a close bond. Martin witnessed it in the eight months he spent coaching Djokovic with Vajda beginning in 2009.
"Marian has been there for him through thick and thin from a very early age and their relationship is father-son, older brother-younger brother, uncle-nephew, and everything in between," said the twice grand slam finalist.
"There's a lot of emotion in that relationship."
Becker was "happy" to see Djokovic's old gang back, although he ruled out his own return. Now the head of men's tennis in Germany and a mentor to world No. 3 Alexander "Sascha" Zverev, he said: "I don't read a very, very good book twice."
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The King of Clay over the years
A lot has changed since a 19-year-old Rafael Nadal became only the second man in history to win Roland Garros at the first attempt. The bulging biceps, long hair and headband remain, but the Spaniard's sense of style has certainly changed.
Nadal went into his first French Open as an inexperienced 18-year-old and emerged a grand slam champion -- beating Roger Federer in the semifinals on his 19th birthday. The 2005 season was the birth of what would go on to be Nadal's classic look: sleeveless top and three-quarter length shorts.
By the following year, Nadal had cemented his place among tennis' elite and was developing a fearsome reputation on clay. This time wearing a slightly less garish light blue, Nadal picked up his second consecutive French Open title by becoming the first man to beat Roger Federer in a grand slam final.
In 2007, the then 20-year-old Nadal's status as the 'King of Clay' was sealed. Defeat to Federer at the Masters Series in Hamburg ended an 81-match unbeaten streak on clay, which remains a men's Open Era record today. At that year's French Open, Nadal opted for the reverse of 2006's top-bandana combo -- this time with matching trainers to boot.
A year later, Nadal opted for a variation on his debut French Option look, this time sporting an all-green combo. Nadal reached world No. 1 for the first time in his career in 2008, helped by his fourth consecutive Roland Garros title -- matching Bjorn Borg's record of consecutive trophies, while also becoming only the seventh man to win a grand slam without dropping a set.
Nadal's first dramatic transformation came in 2009. Gone were the sleeveless shirts and three-quarter lengths, in came the sleeves and fluorescent, clashing colors. Perhaps it was the sleeves restricting the powerful arms (or maybe a knee injury), but Nadal suffered the first of only two French Open defeats. Despite a shock fourth-round loss to Robin Soderling, Nadal set a record of 31 consecutive wins at Roland Garros.
In 2010, Nadal bounced back from the 2009 disappointment with a daring multicolored number. He went on to exact revenge on Soderling, beating him in the final after the Swede had upset Federer in the quarterfinals. Federer's failure to reach the semis meant Nadal regained the world No. 1 spot, while it was also the second time he won the French Open without dropping a set.
The following year, Nadal dialed down the brightness, instead choosing to return to one of his earliest Roland Garros styles. And it worked -- he maintained his No. 1 ranking throughout the clay court season and beat perennial rival Federer in the final.
Perhaps in an attempt to gain the upper hand on opponents by blending into the clay, Nadal opted for an orange-ish-red look for the first time at the French Open. It appeared to work, as Nadal dropped just 30 games in the first five rounds, before beating Djokovic in four sets in the final to claim his seventh Roland Garros title and surpass Borg as the tournament's most successful player.
The 2013 French Open was the debut of Nadal's latest wardrobe change: the short shorts. In an all-Spanish final, Nadal defeated David Ferrer in straight sets -- although bizarrely dropped from fourth in the world to fifth after his victory.
Perhaps a sign of entering into his late 20s, Nadal's colors switched from fluorescent to more mellow tones. Despite being hampered by injuries and suffering surprise defeats early in the clay court season, Nadal grinded out arguably his most impressive Roland Garros victory. Another victory in the final against Djokovic took him to 14 grand slams (level with Pete Sampras) and it was his fifth straight French Open triumph.
Nadal's struggle to find form continued into 2015's clay court season, dropping outside of the world's top five for the first time since 2005. Looking like an athletic version of the Cookie Monster, Nadal crashed out of the French Open in the quarterfinals to Djokovic. It ended his 39-match unbeaten run and marked just his second defeat on the Parisian clay.
The following year, the shorts got even shorter and the two-tone top returned as Nadal exited the French Open in the third round -- although this time it was a wrist injury that defeated him. Despite the disappointment, there was another milestone for Nadal as he became only the eighth man to reach 200 grand slam wins.
Nadal debuted his strong blue look against Benoit Paire in the first round and the King of Clay went on to complete "'La Decima" of 10 Roland Garros titles.
Paris breakthrough
Despite the promising showing in Rome, a French Open rematch against an in-form Nadal is a different proposition.
However, in his pomp, Djokovic tormented Nadal: He compiled a pair of seven-match winning streaks against the Spaniard.
And although he faded in the second set in Rome, Djokovic believes there was little to separate him and the "King of Clay."
"I don't think that there was too much of a difference, which is great for me, because Rafa is, of course, the best player ever to play tennis on clay courts," said Djokovic.
"I thought the level of my tennis was very high."
Martin doesn't discount a Djokovic run past the quarterfinals in Paris, assuming he benefits from a gentle start to the fortnight.
"I think the resiliency on the physical side, which leads into the resiliency of the emotional side of things, will dictate his success," said Martin, the chief executive of the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
"If he can win his first nine out of 10 sets or similar, then I could see him doing a little bit better" than the last eight.
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Becker says a quarterfinal result in Paris would mark a "total success." Anything more and it's a "breakthrough."
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"And I wish him nothing but the best," said Becker. "If he plays against anyone, I want him to win -- except Sascha Zverev."