Kevin Anderson has revealed that he was subjected to death threats by punters who gambled on his first-round match at Wimbledon on Monday.

The towering South Africa was beaten Denis Istomin in five sets on day one of the grand slam in south-west London.

To make matters worse world number 25 Anderson said he was given a torrent of abuse following his early exit at the All England Club.

He told BBC World Service Sport: "It pretty much happens after every match regardless of the circumstances,

"People who have bet on the match tend to take to social media and say very inappropriate things."

He added: "It's just something you have to deal with as a professional athlete who is in the limelight,

"You can't obviously read too much into it, you let it run off your back. It would be nicer if you didn't [have to], but that's the reality of the world we live in."

Anderson also tweeted on Tuesday: "Bummed to have lost yesterday, but at least I had a ton of death threats on facebook and twitter to make me feel better about things..."