Coco Gauff puts Chris Eubanks on blast for being 'the worst' at escape rooms

Coco Gauff's effort to reach her third career Grand Slam singles final has been largely stress-free: She's dropped just one set in six matches at Roland Garros, against Australian Open champion Madison Keys in the quarterfinals, and her 6-1, 6-2 semifinal win over Cinderella story Lois Boisson onThursday was her most comprehensive effort of the fortnight yet.

Off the court, though? She's been stressing ... specifically because her mom and good friend Chris Eubanks are less-than-ideal teammates for one of her favorite off-court pastimes.

Read more: How Aryna Sabalenka dethroned Iga Swiatek, and Coco Gauff cracked Lois Boisson’s Cinderella slipper

Gauff told reporters after topping Boisson that she's learned a lot in the three years since reaching her maiden major final in Paris in 2022—namely, that she's been more intentional in enjoying her time off the court on the globe-trotting tennis tour. In Paris, that's manifested by going for walks and doing escape rooms—a night out she's not alone on tour in enjoying—with one big caveat, as she revealed in our Tennis.com Quote du Jour:

Q. I wanted to ask about the escape rooms that you mentioned. Who do you do those with? What were the themes? How did they go? Did you escape?

COCO GAUFF: We're 1 for 1. I did one like a week ago. We got out of that one. Then the most recent one we did, we did not get out. We had one more clue left.

Yeah, it was not my fault. My dad and I were the best. My mom and I did it with Chris Eubanks, and them two were the worst. I know when I invite my mom, she's not going to be great. She's just there for the vibes.

But Chris I expected a little bit better to be, just considering he claims he's good at escape rooms. But, yeah, they're fun. I think I'm pretty good, but the first one I did last week, my team carried. I wasn't that good.

Q. What were the themes?

COCO GAUFF: The first week we had to find the doctor that was experimenting on humans and prove it. Then the next one, some subway was blowing up, and we had to fix it, and I didn't know how to read a subway map (laughing).

That's why. The clue was, like, Read the map, it's going north and switch to change, and I had no idea what that meant because I don't really ride the metro that much, and I never rode it in Paris.

But the competitive juices she showed in her escape room efforts mirror the mindset she'll take into her match against Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday.

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The American won't define herself by her performance, and will be more relaxed entering her second Roland Garros final than she was for her first, she says.

"My first final here I was super nervous, and I kind of wrote myself off before the match even happened," she told reporters after the semifinal. "Obviously here I have a lot more confidence just from playing a Grand Slam final before and doing well in one. Yeah, I think going into Saturday I'll just give it my best shot and try to be as calm and relaxed as possible.Whatever happens, happens, and knowing that I put the best effort forward."

"Everybody is dealing with way bigger things in life than losing a final. And also realizing that—well, I don't know big the draw is, but however many players wanted to be in this position," she added. "I'm sure there are hundreds of players that would kill to win or lose a final, so just knowing that, making me realize how lucky and privileged I am to be in this position. At first I thought it would be the end of the world if I lost, and you know, the sun still rose the next day. So knowing, regardless of the result, the sun will still rise."