• Alex de Minaur at No 8 leads three locals among men’s seeds
• Nick Kyrgios returns from injury at the Australian Open

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.