Champions keep playing until they get it right.

In the great arenas where courage and will are tested, where failure looms as close as triumph, the voice of Billie Jean King resounds with timeless wisdom: “Champions keep playing until they get it right.” These words, spoken by one who battled not only opponents on the tennis court but also the heavy chains of inequality, reveal the eternal truth of perseverance. They remind us that mastery is not born in a single victory but in the relentless striving, the willingness to endure failure after failure until perfection is forged.

To be a champion is not merely to win, for victory alone can be fleeting. To be a champion is to possess a spirit that refuses to surrender to imperfection. The ordinary player may falter, grow weary, and abandon the struggle. But the champion returns, again and again, seeking to correct, to refine, to master. It is not the moment of triumph that defines them, but the countless moments of persistence, where others would have turned away.

The ancients understood this truth. Think of Thomas Edison, who when asked about his failures in creating the lightbulb, replied that he had not failed but found “ten thousand ways that do not work.” He did not abandon the effort after one defeat or ten, but continued until he got it right. His invention lit the world, not because of his genius alone, but because of his relentless refusal to stop. Like the champion, he kept playing, kept working, until his vision became reality.

Billie Jean King herself embodied these words not only in tennis but in life. She endured the grind of the tour, the pressure of expectation, and the weight of representing women in a male-dominated age. The “Battle of the Sexes” match against Bobby Riggs was not won in one night of brilliance, but through years of persistence, refining her skills, strengthening her resolve, preparing for the moment when history would demand her best. Her victory was the triumph of one who never ceased striving until the game was played right, not only for herself but for generations to come.

There is also a deeper lesson: champions are not free from error. They stumble, they falter, they fall. But unlike others, they do not mistake failure for finality. They see failure as a teacher, as a necessary step on the path to mastery. Each mistake becomes a lesson, each loss a stone on the road to victory. Champions keep playing because they understand that greatness is not perfection from the start, but persistence until perfection is achieved.

For us, the lesson is clear. Whatever your arena—whether in work, in study, in art, or in the struggles of the heart—do not stop when the effort grows weary, when mistakes seem endless, when progress is slow. Keep playing. Learn from the error, refine your craft, strengthen your spirit. For only those who persist discover the sweetness of true mastery. Success is not found in the first attempt, but in the refusal to abandon the last attempt.

So let Billie Jean King’s words be remembered as a call to endurance: “Champions keep playing until they get it right.” Do not envy the champion’s triumph without understanding their toil. Do not fear your own failures, for they are not the end but the beginning. Embrace the grind, cherish the struggle, and persist until the work is done well. For in persistence lies the crown, and in endurance lies true victory.