Nick Kyrgios has continued his Wimbledon feud with the chair umpires after an attempt to belittle an official, who he later accused of thinking "he was top dog".
Kyrgios, who won his second round match against Juan Monaco in straight sets on Wednesday, was angered after a linesman halted play to complain to the chair umpire about Kyrgios' language.
After exchanging words with the linesman when he returned to his position, the 20-year-old then proceeded to question the chair umpire over the linesman's message, asking "what did he say?" at the change of ends.
It's unclear what the umpire told the No.26 seed, but it didn't sit well with Kyrgios, who replied saying: "Is that a threat, is that a threat?".
"Does it feel good to be in the chair up there?," Kyrgios asked umpire Ali Nili.
"Does it feel strong to be up there?"
In the post-match press conference, Kyrgios explained what brought about his tirade, taking another swipe at the official.
"I just thought he thought he was top dog in the chair really," Kyrgios said. "He was telling me not to speak to him, all that stuff. [It] doesn't really matter, you know."
It is understood Kyrgios was swearing in the first set, which is what prompted the linesman's warning.
Asked if he was aware of his language, Kyrgios replied: "Yeah, I guess, yeah."
"I'm aware of what I'm saying. I'm in pain and I'm playing a tennis match at Wimbledon second round. A bit of stress out there."
It came after Monday's incident with chair umpire Mohamed Layhani, in which Kyrgios threatened to stop playing if he didn't call an official on to the court to address his complaints about a decision.
He later denied referring to the chair umpire as a "dirty scum", admitting he was talking to himself.
Kyrgios, who was heard on court complaining to the Fanatics about a headache that "is not going away", managed to soldier on through the pain to record the 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, 6-4 victory, his sixth win at The All England Club in two years
The win against the Argentinian now sets up a likely third-round clash against No.7 seed Milos Raonic, the Canadian who ended Kyrgios' giant-killing run in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon last year.
"I've just had a little bit of a sinus infection the last couple weeks," Kyrgios said.
"It's getting to the end stages of it. But it's still affecting me a little bit. It's going to go away eventually. But it is, it's pretty annoying at the start of matches. Started getting blurry vision. I thought I dug out the first set well. Obviously lifted my energy towards the second and third."
