STOCKHOLM -- Thomas Johansson and Thomas Enqvist will spearhead Sweden's bid to reach the Davis Cup final by beating Australia later this month.

The absence of Magnus Norman due to a hip injury was confirmed when captain Carl Axel Hageskog named his team on Tuesday for their semifinal in Sydney on September 21-23.

Johansson, the world No. 17 and Sweden's highest-ranked player, reached the fourth round of this year's U.S. Open.

Enqvist, 30th in the world rankings, will almost certainly be the seven-time winners' number two singles player.

Hageskog also selected doubles specialists Jonas Bjorkman and Simon Aspelin as well as Magnus Larsson in his five-man team.

Pointing out that Australia could select two players in the top five -- U.S. Open champion Lleyton Hewitt, the number three, and Pat Rafter, ranked four -- Johansson said Sweden were the underdogs.

"They are sky-high favorites," Johansson told Reuters. "But if we play well, we have a really good chance to beat them."

Australia have a 5-2 advantage over Sweden in previous Davis Cup ties and ATP tour heads-to-head statistics also point to Australia in the singles.

Rafter is 1-0 versus Johansson and 6-2 against Enqvist. Hewitt's tally against Enqvist is 4-1 while he has never played Johansson.

"It is quite clear that I'll have to play my very best tennis to beat them," Johansson said.

Hageskog said in a statement: "It will be exciting and inspiring to travel to Sydney with the objective of beating the 'Aussies'."