Australia’s once-in-a-generation crop of men’s tennis players may be remaining coy about their own chances of breaking a 49-year drought and winning their home grand slam, but they are happy to talk up each others’ prospects for the tournament starting on Sunday.

Fourteen locals are in the Australian Open men’s singles draw and among them are three seeds, the highest number at a grand slam since Lleyton Hewitt, Mark Philippoussis and Pat Rafter contested Wimbledon in 2000.

Alexei Popyrin surged into the top 25 when he won the Montreal Masters last year, the first time an Australian has won a 1000-level title since Hewitt in 2003, and is tipped to get past what he describes as the “hump” of the third round, where he has been eliminated three times.

“If you’re asking me if I can win this tournament, there’s no point going out there and thinking I’m going to lose this match,” Popyrin said. “You go out there thinking you can win every match … but it’s not a goal.”

The 25-year-old was more explicit about the chances of his countryman, Alex de Minaur, who at No 8 is the highest-seeded Australian man at a grand slam since Wimbledon in 2006.

“He’s definitely got a huge opportunity,” Popyrin said. “I think he is one of the best players in the world, so with every best player in the world you think they can win the tournament, and I definitely don’t want to face him.”

De Minaur was similarly reluctant to talk up his own chances, but has showed a quiet confidence through his many media obligations this week. “I’m doing all the right things, and look, anything can happen, right?” he said. “It is tennis at the end of the day, if it was strictly based on rankings, then it would be quite a boring sport.”

The 25-year-old looked in outstanding touch last year at Melbourne Park before unpredictable Russian Andrey Rublev started swinging wildly and managed to turn around their third round clash and eliminate the last local contender. But de Minaur went on to reach the quarters at the other three grand slams.

De Minaur starts with a match against the Netherlands’ Botic van de Zandschulp, who upset Carlos Alcaraz in the US Open last year. “For me, it’s all about having that tunnel vision, focusing on a first round opponent – which is a tough one – and then do what I can,” de Minaur said. “But there’s always a chance, every time you step out for a tournament, you’ve always got to think that there’s a chance.”

Jordan Thompson is the third Australian seed and said the current crop is “looking pretty good at the top”, and they have benefited from pushing each other to get better. “We’ve got a great crew, and Nick [Kyrgios] is unseeded. If he’s fit he’s a contender, and he’s made the final at Wimbledon.”

Although Thompson is close to a career-high ranking at No 27, he was forced to withdraw from the Brisbane International due to a foot injury. He said it is “definitely getting better” though conceded it was not a minor ailment. “It usually takes a bit for me to withdraw, and I couldn’t play Adelaide either, so I just spent the time trying to rest and recover and get it right for this round one, and it’s looking pretty good so far.”

Kyrgios also has concerns over his health, after a two-year recovery from wrist surgery was complicated by an abdominal strain this week that has limited his ability to serve in practice. The 29-year-old said Australian men’s tennis was “ridiculously strong” and de Minaur has a legitimate chance at the trophy.

“To deal with everything, like the pressure of being our number one player – I was there, and I didn’t always deal with it the best – but he’s been a ridiculously good role model,” Kyrgios said. “I genuinely think he’s a threat at any grand slam.”

Chris O’Connell, Aleks Vukic, Rinky Hijikata, James Duckworth, Thanasi Kokkinakis and Adam Walton are all ranked in the top 100, and are joined in the main draw by wildcards Omar Jasika, James McCabe, Tristan Schoolkate and Li Tu.