Bernard Tomic has admitted that Roger Federer's reputation preceded him during their meeting at the Australian Open earlier today.

Despite the fact that he had a home crowd behind him in Melbourne, 20-year-old Tomic was defeated 6-3 6-4 6-1 by the former world number one.

Reflecting on the match, Tomic confessed that he was unable to "block out" Federer's achievements.

"I got in there and I started to think after they mentioned all these Grand Slams leading up," said Tomic. "Wimbledon champion seven times, five times US Open champion. Then I was like, 'Oh crap, it's Roger'.

"I tried to block out who's on the other side of the net but couldn't quite do it after that announcement."

Tomic is currently 43 in the ATP standings.