Frank Dancevic’s drop down the rankings has not been quite as steep as Niagara Falls, where he was born.

The journeyman Canadian nevertheless falls into the category of shock finalist in the inaugural men’s event at Eastbourne today.

Dancevic, now 61 places below his career-high of 65 two years ago, fought his way through qualifying last weekend to reach the main draw.

He caused another upset at windswept Devonshire Park yesterday by blowing out the challenge of 36-year-old Frenchman Fabrice Santoro in the AEGON Championships.

Defeating the fourth seed in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, was the second worthy scalp for Dancevic after knocking out Russian top seed Igor Andreev, also in straight sets, in the first round.

Andreev is 26 in the world, so his seeding emphasised what a sub-standard field it has been on the men’s side. To be fair to the organisers though, they have been dogged by misfortune.

As soon as Richard Gasquet was announced as the star name he tested positive for cocaine.

Fellow Frenchman Gael Monfils then pulled out with a left wrist injury sustained at Queen’s last week, which also sidelines him from Wimbledon.

Andy Murray hinted at seeking a late entry until his Queen’s triumph gave him all the grass preparation he needed but Dancevic is convinced the line-up will be much stronger next year.

He said: “It’s a world class event and, year by year, I think there are going to be more and more players coming here and realising it’s a great tournament and a great tune-up before Wimbledon.

“Everyone has treated me really well. They have been really hospitable and the crowds and the kids have been great, so it’s a really fun tournament to be at.”

It’s easy to say nice things when you’ve had the kind of success Dancevic has enjoyed so far this week but his gushing praise has been given more credibility by Ivan Ljubicic.

The former world No. 3 Croatian, forced to retire from his quarter-final against Santoro on Thursday with an ankle injury, said: “It’s fantastic. I’m really positively surprised.

“It’s even better than Queen’s in terms of practice for us. There are many courts and they are of great quality.

“I don’t know how much guys actually know about this tournament but I’m sure that after this year, and all the positive comments there are going to be, that next year is going to be much stronger.”

For now the LTA and their new umbrella sponsors will have to make do with a low-key final between Dancevic and Dmitry Tursunov, the Russian second seed.

He saw off Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, the No. 8 seed from Spain, 6-2,6-2 and starts as a warm favourite today.

Tursunov has not dropped a set in either of his previous meetings with Dancevic. Both were two years ago, on grass at Queen’s and in the final at Indianapolis.