Far from being a fading force, 12-times grand slam champion Novak Djokovic has shown signs that he is emerging from the toughest spell of his career and is ready for a fresh start ahead of the French Open.

The 31-year-old will be seeded 20th for the clay-court grand slam in Paris, but there will be a few players anxiously eyeing the drawsheet hoping the 2016 champion is not in their vicinity.

Last week in Rome, Djokovic went toe-to-toe with a rampant Rafael Nadal and, although he lost their semi-final 7-6 6-3, the level of tennis he produced in an absorbing contest was much closer to what fans have come to expect from the Serb.

“He’s coming back for sure. If this slam wasn’t called the French Open, I think you would have to put him up amongst the seven or eight favourites,” said three-times champion Mats Wilander.

“Even at the French, (he has a chance). He played very well against Nadal in Rome.

“Obviously it’s easier to play when you have nothing to lose and everything to win in one way, but technically he is back where he was, or very close.”

A few months ago, Djokovic could barely register a win.

His return from the elbow injury that ended his 2017 season after Wimbledon and then flared up again at the Australian Open was more difficult than expected.

At Indian Wells, in his first match after losing to Hyeon Chung in the Australian Open fourth round,Djokovic slumped to defeat against 109th-ranked Japanese Taro Daniel.

“It felt like first match I ever played on the tour. Very weird,” was his post-match reaction, admitting that he was battling himself physically and mentally.

When he lost to Frenchman Benoit Paire in the Miami first round a week later, he said it was “impossible” to play the kind of tennis that made him all but untouchable in 2015 when he was agonisingly close to a calendar year grand slam.

He split with coach Andre Agassi two months ago and in April parted company with another member of the team, Radek Stepanek.

Since then Djokovic has found salvation in Slovak Marian Vajda, the coach who launched him on the path to greatness and was his right-hand man from 2006-17 before taking a back seat.

The early signs are encouraging and, while still not back to his authoritative best, the confidence is returning and, crucially, Djokovic appears fully motivated.

“I think his career is like starting over,” Wilander said.

“He is pretty much in the same situation now as he was when he was 17, 18, 19 before he won his first major.

“He is 31 but he is starting over again.”