Love, Fault, Break: Why Mompreneur Life Feels Like a Never-Ending Tennis Match

January 24, 2025 |

This blog is inspired by the book Open, by Andre Agassi.

It is no accident, I think, that tennis uses the language of life. Advantage, service, fault, break, love – the basic elements of tennis are those of everyday existence, because every match is a life in miniature.
– Andre Agassi, Open

I picked up Open by Andre Agassi during one of those weeks.

The kind where you are not sure what day it is. The house is a mess. Your inbox is full. You are trying to write an email with one hand while holding a feverish kid with the other. And somewhere in the chaos, you wonder, How in the world am I supposed to keep all this together?

I had seen the book years ago, but it was just about tennis—or so I thought. This time, I was not looking for tennis tips. I was looking for something to help me make sense of the pressure I was feeling as a mom and a business owner. Something real.

And there it was. That quote.

It stopped me cold.

Because what Andre said is not just poetic—it is truth. Life is a match. And if you are a mompreneur, you are not just playing one match. You are playing multiple tournaments at the same time, with no coach, no breaks, and very little crowd applause.

Every Day Feels Like a Match You Did Not Train For

Andre talks in Open about how he started playing tennis before he even knew what he liked. He was pushed hard, trained relentlessly, and expected to perform with the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Sound familiar?

That is how mom life and business life often feel. We are thrown into roles—founder, nurturer, accountant, chauffeur, strategist, therapist, chef—and expected to ace every one of them without pause.

We serve. We rally. We mess up. We try again.

Sometimes we hit an ace—a perfect win. Other times? A complete fault. And then there are the breaks—those moments when the pressure bubbles up and spills over. You close the door to your office, sink to the floor, and cry into a pile of unfolded laundry.

But you get back up. Because the match is not over.

Love, in Every Sense of the Word

In tennis, "love" means zero. But for us, love is the reason we keep going.

It is not the paycheck. It is not the praise. It is the look on your kids face when they see you working hard for something that matters. It is the fire in your gut that says, I was made for more than survival mode.

It is also love that makes this all so hard. Because we care deeply—about our children, about our clients, about the impact we are trying to make. We do not want to drop any of the balls we are juggling. We want to give it all, every time.

And sometimes, that love is what helps us forgive ourselves for the faults, the breaks, the missed shots.

Why Open Is More Than a Sports Memoir

This is not just a story about a tennis prodigy who hated the game. It is a story about pressure. Perfectionism. Identity. Performance. Burnout. Reinvention. It is the emotional rollercoaster that every mom entrepreneur knows, even if she has never held a racket.

Agassi is brutally honest about his fear of failing, his battles with imposter syndrome, and his desire to quit—even when everyone else thought he had it all.

Reading it as a mompreneur? It hits hard. Because it mirrors what we go through in business and parenting: the pressure to keep pushing, the guilt of not loving every minute, the frustration of not being able to walk away from something you built—because walking away would mean letting down people you love.

Affiliate Disclosure:
This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This means I may receive a small commission—at no extra cost to you—if you make a purchase through one of these links. I only recommend products I use, love, or believe will genuinely help my fellow mompreneurs win the daily match.

Tools That Help Me Stay in the Match

Below are my go-to tools for keeping my head in the game—yes, affiliate links, because sharing what helps is part of how I serve. These are the things that help me reset, stay focused, and show up even when my inner voice is yelling, You are blowing it.

Open by Andre Agassi

This is not just a memoir. It is mindset fuel. If you are feeling stuck, stretched, or silently screaming into a pillow—read this.

My Message to You

You may not be holding a racket, but you are still playing the match of your life.

And if today feels like a complete loss—if you feel off your game, overwhelmed, or like you are running on fumes—you are not alone.

The match is not over. You are still here. Still fighting. Still showing up.

Every point you play—every diaper changed, call taken, invoice sent, meltdown managed—it all counts. Not because it looks perfect, but because you keep playing.

So whether today feels like a win or a wipeout, remember what Andre said: the language of tennis is the language of life. You are not failing—you are just in the middle of the match.