Men’s tennis star Kevin Anderson revealed that he received death threats all over social media from dejected tennis gamblers this week after his first-round five-set Wimbledon loss to Denis Istomin.
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…
— Kevin Anderson (@KAndersonATP) June 28, 2016
Thanks to GOOD people out there who stick with me through this tough year. My #Wimbledon is done, looking forward to US Hardcourt Season.
— Kevin Anderson (@KAndersonATP) June 28, 2016
Anderson, who has one of the game’s most powerful serves and is making his way back from injury, is known as one of the good guys on the tour. Surprisingly, Anderson revealed that he—and other tennis players—receive death threats after “nearly 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 reportedly told the BBC. “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, who is from South Africa, played his college tennis at the University of Illinois.
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