LONDON: Nick Kyrgios could find himself in hot water after a fiery exchange with chair umpire Mohammed Layhani in his first-round victory against Diego Schwartzman, but the 20-year-old denied calling him "dirty scum".

Kyrgios threatened to stop playing after a contentious call cost him a point in the third set of his match, demanding a tournament official come to court for clarification.

Moments later he was heard saying "dirty scum" in the direction of his coaching staff, however he insists he was talking to himself.

"I wasn't referring to the ref at all there," Kyrgios said.

"Yeah, I mean, it was towards myself. But, yeah, I mean, obviously I knew you guys were going to ask me about that."

Asked if he expected a fine for his choice of words, Kyrgios said: "Wouldn't bother me one bit."

It was a challenge called by Schwartzman to a shot that was deemed to have hit the baseline that ignited the argument with the chair umpire.

The Australian was livid after the Argentinian was awarded the point, adamant he had heard the lineswoman's "out" call before he played the shot.

"It got called out first," Kyrgios argued with the umpire.

The umpire then replied: "When the ball was in the air, then she called out."

However, Kyrgios demanded a tournament official come on court to clarify the rules, threatening not to play until they did.

"That is not the rules," Kyrgios said. "I will sit out here and wait. I'm not going to play. I'm going to get him to come out, that's the rules. Are you serious right now or not?

"That's a replay. I'm going back as I hit it she calls out."

Kyrgios, who was down 15-30 at the time with a 3-2 lead in the set, eventually went back and played on. While he lost the point and went on to lose the game, the Australian managed to hold his nerve to win the match 6-0, 6-2, 7-6 (8-6).

"There's a lot of pressure out there, sometimes you get lost in the heat of the moment a little bit," Kyrgios said.

"I thought the call was wrong, to be honest. I thought it was a replay. I just wanted to get the guy that was in charge of the referees. He was already sitting out there. I'm not too fussed about the call to be honest, but if it was more a crucial time in the match, or deeper in the tournament, that could swing things. Shouldn't be something that can be taken lightly. You've got to make the right call there.

"He knew it was a replay, the guy sitting off the court. He ultimately said 'it's the ref's call'. I really couldn't do anything about it."

With 11 Australians involved on the opening day of the tournament, it was Kyrgios who kickstarted the campaign on a positive note.

It was a blistering 17-minute opening set that set the tone for the 20-year-old's first round success, cruising past the 22-year-old South American in his maiden appearance at Wimbledon.

Kyrgios, who lost to French Open champion Stan Wawrinka in the opening round of Queen's in the lead up to Wimbledon, looked comfortable throughout the match to set up a clash with Juan Monaco.

The world No.26, who was granted a wild card at last year's Wimbledon, will be looking to continue his impressive run at The All England Club after his heroics of 2014.

Kyrgios, the then no.144 in the world, defeated No.1 Rafael Nadal in the round of 16, becoming the first teenager since Nadal (19 years and two days) to beat a No.1 (Federer in the 2005 French Open) at a grand slam.

Australia has 16 players represented in the singles draw, the most at Wimbledon since 1997 when there were also 16. Thanasi Kokkinakis was one of five teenagers playing in the gentleman's draw, but he lost in straight sets to Leonardo Mayer.