Australian Jason Kubler won the battle but lost the war in his second-round match-up with 18th-seeded Russian Karen Khachanov at the Australian Open.

The 29-year-old wildcard won a ridiculous 70-shot rally to break his more fancied opponent and stop himself from going two sets to love down on John Cain Arena.

After breaking Khachanov to level the set at 5-5, Kubler rattled off the next two games to win the set, but ultimately lost the match 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 to the US Open semifinalist.

Neither player was particularly aggressive in hunting for a winner during the 90-second rally, making for a taxing, if not particularly dynamic, point that ended with an unfortunate whimper as Kubler's backhand clipped the net cord and dribbled over.

Of the 70 shots, 55 were backhands, leaving just 14 forehands and one serve.