Melbourne, Australia, 26 February 2013 | tennis.com.au

Marinko Matosevic has cracked the top 40 in this week’s ATP rankings, at the same time reclaiming the mantle as Australia’s top-ranked male player.

The pair of impressive milestones were made possible by the Victorian’s run to the semifinals of the US National Indoor Hardcourt Championships in Memphis, a result which vaulted him 14 places in the rankings to world No.39 – a new career-high.

Matosevic was unfortunately forced to retire after the first set of his semifinal against eventual champion Kei Nishikori, but not after a stellar week in Memphis that saw him upset No.3 seed Sam Querrey in the second round and seventh seed Alexandr Dolgopolov in the quarters.

The rankings improvement sees Matosevic leap-frog Bernard Tomic as the No.1-ranked Aussie, despite Tomic rising one spot to No.45 following his run to the quarterfinals in Marseille last week.

Also enjoying a rise was Lleyton Hewitt, who leapt nine places – returning to the top 100 at No.98 – after making the second round in Memphis.

> see where the Aussies stand in the latest ATP rankings

Meanwhile, some young Aussies were making tracks in the ATP rankings following excellent results on the ITF Futures circuit.

James Duckworth jumped 24 places to world No.238 following his run to the final at the recent Melbourne Park Tennis International, where he ultimately lost to Frenchman Stephane Robert.

At that same event, 20-year-old Alex Bolt reached the semifinals – also falling to Robert – and was rewarded with a rankings improvement of 28 places, taking him to a career-best mark of No.339.

As recently as six months ago, Bolt was ranked outside the world’s top 700.

There was little change in this week’s WTA rankings for the Australian women.

Stosur maintained her place in the world’s top 10 at No.9, while a host of her compatriots – Anastasia Rodionova, Casey Dellacqua, Olivia Rogowska, Jarmila Gajdosova, Monique Adamczak, Sacha Jones and Ash Barty – retained their positions in the 100s.

> view the latest WTA singles rankings

In juniors, Aussie Nick Kyrgios continues to rule atop the ITF junior boys rankings, a position he achieved in January.

Joining Kyrgios in the top 50 are fellow Aussies Jay Andrijic (No.31), Harry Bourchier (No.41), Bradley Mousley (No.44) and Omar Jasika (No.45).

> see where the Aussie boys stand on the ITF juniors rankings list