Spaniard David Ferrer believes Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are favourites to win the Australian Open rather than Novak Djokovic, despite the Serb hammering him in straight sets on Wednesday.
Dazzling Djokovic ripped through fifth seed Ferrer with surprising ease to clinch his fourth consecutive Grand Slam semi-final appearance.
Despite being just two rungs below in the rankings, Ferrer was wiped out 6-0, 6-3, 7-5 in two hours and 13 minutes.
Djokovic may face Federer in Friday's semi-final if the Swiss top seed can get past American 12th seed James Blake.
But even though he was decidedly second-best to Djokovic, Ferrer still ranks Federer and Nadal, the world numbers one and two, as the pair who will fight it out in Sunday's final.
"He's in semi-final. He will continue to be in the tournament. But for me, the favorites are Rafa (Nadal) or Federer," Ferrer said.
"But Djokovic is an unbelievable player. He is the third in the world. Of course, he can win the tournament."
Ferrer had his best season in 2007 with three ATP titles, his first Grand Slam semi-final at the US Open and a surprise runner-up to Federer at the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai.
{{/usCountry}}Ferrer had his best season in 2007 with three ATP titles, his first Grand Slam semi-final at the US Open and a surprise runner-up to Federer at the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai.
{{/usCountry}}But the Spanish backcourter was all at sea against Djokovic, missing many forehands and having his serve broken six times and committing more errors than winners, 33 to 23.
"I started very bad, very nervous and maybe it was a problem in the first set," Ferrer said.
"When I lost the first set, he played better in the second with more confidence. On the important moments he served well.
"But I had too many mistakes, and I lost a little bit of focus.
"Novak is a very good player. I'm not well in my mentality and so for me today it was impossible to beat him."