The world number one's wait for his first silverware of 2024 continued following a semi-final defeat by Tomas Machac in Geneva on Friday.
He also fell in the last four in Melbourne and Monte Carlo, while suffering a shock defeat at the hands of world number 123 Luca Nardi in the last 32 at Indian Wells.
Therefore Djokovic, who split from long-term coach Goran Ivanisevic earlier in the campaign, can be forgiven for not being full of confidence ahead of his latest quest for a record-breaking 25th grand slam singles title at Roland Garros.
"Of course, I am worried. I haven't been playing well at all this year," he said after his defeat to Machac.
"It's not enjoyment when you are suffering on the court feeling this way. You're not able to focus on tennis when you have other stuff happening. I just hope I can be fit and ready and prepared for Roland Garros.
"I don't want to take anything away from his win, he deserved it. I don't know what to think about this match, to be honest. I want to forget about it and move on to Paris.
"It was good that I could come here and play more than one match. I played three. I just need to feel better."
Djokovic will become the fourth man in the Open Era to make 20 or more main-draw appearances at the French Open when he begins his campaign against local wildcard Pierre-Hugues Herbert.
A run to the quarter-finals at Roland Garros - without walkovers - would see him surpass Roger Federer for the most singles match wins at majors.
Although, an early exit could see the 37-year-old surrender top spot in the ATP rankings, with world number two and reigning Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner breathing down his neck.
"[I've had] some [good] matches here and there, but it is what it is," he added. "You have to accept it. I don't consider myself a favourite there. I'm going to take it match by match and see how far I can go."
The world number one held off the challenge of the home favourite to win 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, setting him on his way to a potential 25th Grand Slam title.
Djokovic enjoyed a fairly comfortable first set but had to work hard to win the second as Hubert took a more aggressive approach. He steadied in time for a crucial tie-break though, holding his nerve to secure it.
The Serbian regained control in the final set, sealing the win after a double fault from Hubert to set up a second-round tie against Roberto Carballes Baena.
Data Debrief: Djokovic's title defence off to a good start
Djokovic (367) trails only Roger Federer (369) for Men’s Singles match wins at Grand Slam events in the Open Era, and could overtake him with a strong showing at the French Open.
He is now 72-2 in opening round matches at Grand Slam events, winning his past 69 such matches. Djokovic’s last opening round loss came via retirement at the 2011 US Open against Conor Niland.
World number 10 Goffin has started the season in impressive form and remains on course for a first ATP Tour title since Tokyo in 2017.
The second seed bested Bublik's varied strokeplay over the course of one hour and 47 minutes, with the 22-year-old even serving underarm in a bid to deceive Goffin as a gripping second-set tie break slipped away.
Goffin will face Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the quarter-finals after the home favourite claimed an impressive 7-6 (7-2) 7-5 triumph against Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Herbert was a finalist in Montpellier last year, while countryman Richard Gasquet remained in contention for his fourth win at the event by beating Feliciano Lopez 6-7 (1-7) 6-4 6-2.
Vasek Pospisil, a winner in the all-Canadian clash with Denis Shapovalov on Wednesday, is up next for Gasquet, who retained his place in a draw stacked with French hopes.
Gael Monfils came from a set down to beat compatriot Adrian Mannarino 4-6 6-1 6-4, joining Gregoire Barrere – a shock winner over Grigor Dimitrov a day ago - in the last eight.
Filip Krajinovic will be Barrere's next opponent after demolishing qualifier Mikael Ymer 6-1 6-1, with Norbert Gombos also seeing off Emil Ruusuvuori in straight sets.
At the Pune Open, top seed Benoit Paire was dumped out in straight sets by Roberto Marcora – the Italian qualifier prevailing 6-4 6-4.
Elsewhere, seeds Ricardas Berankis, Kwon Soon-woo, Yuichi Sugita, James Duckworth and Egor Gerasimov emerged unscathed to reach the quarter-finals.
Medvedev will move up to number two in the world in Monday's latest ranking, making him the first player outside of the big four of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray to occupy one of the top two positions since Leyton Hewitt in 2005.
The Russian celebrated this achievement with a dogged display to down Herbert in two hours and 11 minutes, saving four of the five break points he faced.
A finalist at the Australian Open, Medvedev is now 14-2 in 2021, with the Open 13 title his sixth on indoor hard courts.
Herbert's strategy of frequently visiting the net was initially picked apart by Medvedev, who only needed one set point in the opener as he threaded a backhand winner expertly down the line.
But the Frenchman applied the pressure in set two, passing up three break points early on before impressing from the baseline to reel off five straight points and claim the breaker from 2-4 behind.
The decider was a tense affair but Herbert's errors at the net came back to undermine his efforts decisively when he served to stay in the match at 5-4.
The 29-year-old has now lost all four of his ATP Finals, while Medvedev again proved himself to be a high-quality operator on such occasions.
All four Frenchmen in action on Monday were knocked out in Lyon, including 2018 finalist Gilles Simon.
Aljaz Bedene knocked out the world number 68 in straight sets, two breaks of serve in each enough to secure a 6-2 6-3 triumph after one hour and 13 minutes on court.
Sebastian Korda overcame both Pierre-Hugues Herbert and the rain to progress to the second round, a 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 triumph wrapped up quickly following a delay.
Having been 5-4 ahead in the second set when play was halted, Korda clinched victory on his first match point upon the resumption, in the process snapping a run of four successive defeats on the ATP Tour.
Cameron Norrie will take on top seed Dominic Thiem next after his 7-5 6-3 win against Corentin Moutet, while Ugo Humbert let slip a one-set lead as he was beaten by Yoshihito Nishioka.
Meanwhile, at the Geneva Open, there was a maiden victory for French teenager Arthur Cazaux as he came out on top against compatriot Adrian Mannarino.
The 18-year-old held his nerve in a decider despite this being his first tour-level contest; Reilly Opelka or Pablo Cuevas will be next up in the event.
As for Federer, he will begin his campaign on Tuesday, the 39-year-old having played just two matches so far this year after undergoing two knee operations in 2020.
The Swiss superstar now knows he will be up against Pablo Andujar, who overcame Australia's Jordan Thompson in straight sets.
Tennys Sandgren saw off Salvatore Caruso 6-3 6-4, while Dominik Koepfer came through a tight tussle with Benoit Paire that spanned two hours and 39 minutes.
French Open quarter-finalist Sinner took just 61 minutes to seal a 6-1 6-2 victory against Duckworth, who replaced Hubert Hurkacz after the Pole withdrew due to food poisoning.
The 19-year-old Italian reached a career high 46 in the rankings following his exploits at Roland Garros and cruised past Duckworth after fending off two break points in a 12-minute game at 2-2 in the second set.
Sinner will go up against qualifier Pierre-Hugues Herbert in round two after the Frenchman defeated Tennys Sandgren 6-3 3-6 6-3 at the ATP event on Tuesday.
Zverev defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime in the final of last week's tournament in Cologne and will begin his bid for a second straight title against Millman after the Australian overcame Fernando Verdasco 6-4 6-2.
At the European Open in Antwerp, Alex De Minaur came from a set down to defeat veteran Richard Gasquet 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-3.
When serving for the set in the second set, Gasquet produced an unforced error following a reactive backhand from De Minaur. He then double faulted at 5-5 in the tie-break and the Australian eighth seed dished out the ultimate punishment.
Federico Coria stepped in after Kei Nishikori withdrew due to a right shoulder injury and the Argentinian was comfortably beaten 6-2 6-3 by Pablo Andujar.
The second seed was upset by French world number 93 Pierre-Hugues Herbert, as the doubles expert scored a 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 6-2 win.
Herbert had won only one singles match on tour in 2021 before this week, but Kei Nishikori and Cameron Norrie fell to the 29-year-old in the early rounds before he stunned world number five Tsitsipas.
It was a first career win in singles over a player ranked in the world's top five for Herbert, and he said: "It has been an incredible week for me so far, especially this match."
Quoted on the ATP website, Herbert added: "I knew I was going to have to play an amazing match to have a chance to win and I managed to do that. I am really happy about the way I played. I am so happy to be in the semi-finals here."
A French finalist is guaranteed as Herbert will face compatriot Ugo Humbert in the semi-finals on Saturday.
Humbert beat another Frenchman, world number 138 Arthur Rinderknech, in a tight contest, saving a match point and coming through 4-6 7-5 7-6 (7-4) in two hours and 36 minutes.
Russian top seed Daniil Medvedev chased off the threat of Jannik Sinner at this indoor event for the second year running, securing a 6-2 6-4 success against the Italian teenager.
Their only two career meetings have come in Marseille, and Medvedev bossed this encounter, taking three of his five break chances and holding serve throughout.
He will face Australian Matthew Ebden in the final four after the world number 287 earned an eye-catching 4-6 6-4 6-2 win over Russian third seed Karen Khachanov, who was champion in 2018 in Marseille.
At the Qatar Open, Nikoloz Basilashvili backed up his three-set win over Roger Federer by reaching the final of the tournament.
The Georgian scored a 7-6 (7-3) 6-1 semi-final victory over American Taylor Fritz in a clash of two unseeded players.
Basilashvili will tackle Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut for the title on Saturday after the fifth seed ousted Russian third seed Andrey Rublev.
A 6-3 6-3 win for Bautista Agut nudged the man from Castellon de la Plana into a 3-2 career head-to-head lead over his Muscovite opponent.
