Matthew Ebden will be No 1: McNamara Australian player Matthew Ebden in action during the 2013 Sydney International in January, while he was still a client of coach Peter McNamara. Experienced Australian coach Peter McNamara has warned against an over-investment in the prospects of boom teenagers Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis, while predicting that his former client, Matthew Ebden, will claim the national No.1 ranking before the summer is out. Ebden ended his association with McNamara in October, during a successful Challenger-level run in which the West Australian cut his ranking from 153rd to 68th, close to his career high, and thus guaranteed his Australian Open main draw place alongside Davis Cup teammates Bernard Tomic (51), Lleyton Hewitt (60) and Marinko Matosevic (61). The 26-year-old has not played an ATP main draw match since early July, and is winless at grand slam level this year, but his 0-3 record from his three Australian tournaments last January means Ebden has only 10 rankings points to defend until early February. Tomic won the Sydney title and reached the third round at Melbourne Park, where Hewitt was the most successful Australian by reaching the last 16. Mr Tomic has a lot of points to defend. Mr Matosevic doesn't. Mr Hewitt does. So you've got to say that Mr Ebden after the Australian summer will be No.1 in Australia," said German-based McNamara, who started with Ebden 12 months ago and has previously worked with Mark Philippoussis and young Bulgarian star Grigor Dimitrov. Look, I do believe he's a top 50 player anyway. I think he's one of the fittest guys around, and when he believes in himself and works a little bit harder - he lacks a real weapon weapon, but he's got the fitness and the speed - he's top 50, there's no question. Good for him. Maybe we're looking to the next generation to come through, but one thing we have to be careful about is not putting all our eggs in one basket and just looking to this next generation to be the saviour for Australian tennis. You need the other guys to pull them along. These boys (Kyrgios, 18, and Kokkinakis, 17) are fantastic, they play fantastic tennis, but they're yet to prove themselves. They are, however, highly promising, agrees McNamara, the former world No.7, who is keen to work in a more general coaching capacity with Tennis Australia and would be welcomed by Davis Cup captain Pat Rafter and coach Josh Eagle, although the ongoing delay in the appointment of a new high performance director has not been helpful. "Sooner rather than later we absolutely hope to have Peter involved," Eagle said. He's a great asset for Australian tennis. He's been a top 10 player, he's coached top-level players and had great success with Dimitrov, for example, and we see him as playing an important role in transitioning our juniors into top hundred players. McNamara's split with Ebden was not acrimonious, but believed to be related to a shortfall in funding between the $75,000 TA provides to selected athletes for coach wages and expenses and what the player himself is willing to contribute. "It was mutually acceptable to both of us, because if the player doesn't want the coach, there's nothing you can do," said McNamara, the world No.7. I have no regrets.