Frequent grand slam semi-final victim David Ferrer is closing in on an unwanted record held by Englishman Tim Henman but says there’s not much more he can do to avoid it.

Spanish fourth seed Ferrer lost the fifth major semi-final of his career when he was completely outclassed 6-2 6-2 6-1 by world No.1 Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open on Thursday night.

Yet to reach a grand slam final, Ferrer has now made it to the semis at four of the past nine majors without breaking through.

If he loses another slam semi without first reaching his maiden final he will equal Henman as the only men in the open era to have lost at that stage six times without going further.

The Englishman famously lost four Wimbledon semi-finals as well as falling at the same stage of the US and French Opens.

But Ferrer, who admitted he was powerless to prevent Djokovic’s imperious march to the final, said it simply reflected the fact that the few players ranked above him were better.

“Sometime it doesn’t depend on me, it depends on my opponent,” Ferrer said.

“When I played semi-finals in Roland Garros, Australian Open, US Open, it was a loss against three of the best players.

“I am trying to do my best every match. But I know they are better than me. What can I do?”

Three of his semi-final defeats have now come against Djokovic, with others against Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal.

Ferrer said he had no chance against Djokovic on Thursday night and had never experienced a loss like it.

“I am not happy with my game tonight, but this is tennis,” he said.

“I prefer to play my worst in the semi-final than in the first round.”