SYDNEY -- Australia's Davis Cup captain John Fitzgerald has warned his team not to underestimate Sweden in their World Group semifinal starting on Friday.

With newly crowned U.S. Open champion Lleyton Hewitt and Wimbledon finalist Patrick Rafter heading their line-up, the Australians are strong favorites to win the tie at Sydney's Olympic tennis center.

But Fitzgerald has told his players they risked losing if they underestimated the dangerous Swedes, who have won the men's team event three times since 1994.

"We'd be crazy to be overconfident. It's almost a dirty word," Fitzgerald said. "Overconfidence is not something that we can afford. It's good to be quietly confident, and we are.

"We've got a group of players here of a very high calibre and there is a quiet sense of confidence, but absolutely not overconfidence."

Australia will host the final for the first time in 15 years if they win this weekend but Fitzgerald, a member of the Australian teams that beat Sweden in the 1983 and 1986 Davis Cup finals, said he was expecting a "rough" time from the Scandinavians.

"Playing against a team of Sweden's calibre, I can't help but have enough respect for them," Fitzgerald said. "We know we've got a very rough weekend ahead of us. I wouldn't say the correct word would be that we're "nervous', but we're very conscious and aware of how good they are."

The Australians have an added incentive to win and give Rafter, who plans to retire after this year, his first Davis Cup victory.

Rafter, a two-time U.S. Open champion, missed the 1999 final victory over France in Nice because of a shoulder problem but was a member of the team that lost last year's decider to Spain.

Rafter knows this could be his last chance to win a trophy he says he rates higher than any individual accomplishment.

"We are looking forward to this weekend and we won't be taking it lightly at all," Rafter said. "It's going to be a tough one. We'll have to knuckle down and do our business."