"I let Sania be the captain," Ivan Dodig says with a naughty grin. "She is leading and I am listening. I am a nice guy."
"Rubbish," she interjects as they start to laugh.
"I don't think every team has to have a captain, We both see tennis the same way and whoever is feeling and seeing it better on court," Mirza continues before altering the course of her sentence and glaring in mock anger at her Croatian partner. "Why are you saying I am the captain?"
There is an easy camaraderie between Mirza and Dodig. They have known each other for a few years as fellow professionals on the circuit, played for the same franchise in the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) and since the start of 2016, they've linked up at the Grand Slams to play mixed doubles together. Their partnership has endured a bit of a roller coaster ride. They reached the semifinals at the Australian Open and the final at the French Open last year but lost early at Wimbledon and the US Open. Dodig jokes they falter every time he isn't fully fit.
"Sometimes I get injured," he smiles in Mirza's direction. "Whenever we have played together when we are both healthy, we always put in a good performance."
Dodig has been feeling good in Melbourne this past fortnight. He entered all three events, coming through three brutal qualifying rounds to make the main draw in the singles before losing to Denis Istomin in four sets in the first round. With his Spanish partner Marcel Granollers, Dodig reached the quarterfinals of the men's doubles before succumbing to the Bryan brothers in a fierce three-set contest. Now with Mirza, he has the opportunity to leave the country with a Grand Slam title.
"We both know we can play even better than we have," he said after the semifinal triumph against Australians Samantha Stosur and Sam Groth. "We hope that in the final there will be an even better performance from us."
In the final, Mirza and Dodig face Colombia's Juan Sebastian Cabal and American Abigail Spears. Mirza and Dodig have seven Grand Slam titles between them and are seeded second. Cabal and Spears have none and are unseeded. The Rod Laver Arena, where they begin their final at 4PM local time on Sunday, is familiar terrain for Mirza. She's played four Australian Open finals over her career on this iconic court, winning the women's doubles last year with Martina Hingis and the mixed doubles in 2009 with Mahesh Bhupathi. Two other mixed finals, with Bhupathi in 2008 and Romanian Horia Tecau in 2014, have ended in defeat.
"Playing the final of a Grand Slam is what we are playing tennis for," she says. "To play on these centre courts, this is what we have worked all our life for. This is what as children we have dreamed of doing. I am obviously very pleased that we have given each other another chance. I just want to go and enjoy the moment. A final is not just about the tennis, it is also about enjoying and the nerves. We have a day to rest and recover and hopefully on Sunday we will come out and put up a good performance."
"I have won a men's doubles Grand Slam (2015 French Open) but not in mixed," Dodig adds. "We had a good chance in Paris last year but unfortunately we didn't make it. Here in Melbourne we have the chance again so for sure we will try to go on court and give our best and hopefully we will get lucky."
Despite their greater reputation as a team and as individual players entering the contest, there is little doubt that "getting lucky," as Dodig says, will be a significant factor in deciding the eventual champion. In their last two matches, Mirza and Dodig have needed the 10-point Super tiebreaker to get across the line. In their quarterfinal against Rohan Bopanna and Gabriela Dabrowski, they survived four match points and, against Groth and Stosur, were again taken to a Super tiebreak, which they clinched with a less nerve-wracking 10-5 scoreline. In contrast, Cabal and Spears have won their four matches so far in straight sets.
The draw has been another challenge for Mirza and Dodig. They had to overcome reigning US Open champions Laura Siegemund and Mate Pavic in the first round itself. However, having battled through the tough situations, both believe they can land one final punch on target.
"Believe us we don't want to play Super tiebreaks," Mirza chuckles. "We are obviously very excited. We are always trying to flight and kind of struggling through the matches. We are really happy to be in our second final together"
"For me, Super tiebreaks are okay if we win," Dodig smiles. "We have played many since we started playing together. I think that is our strength, we win most of them. We play quite well under pressure, that is why we are here."