AELTC Sepakati Gencatan Senjata Terkait Konflik Hadiah Uang Wimbledon

Ketegangan antara penyelenggara turnamen Grand Slam dan para petenis elite dunia mereda di London pada Senin, 29 Juni 2026, setelah dicapainya kesepakatan damai sementara terkait pembagian hadiah uang selama berlangsungnya kompetisi Wimbledon.

Perselisihan finansial yang telah berlangsung sejak Maret 2025 ini sempat memanas ketika perwakilan pemain mengancam akan membatasi waktu wawancara dengan awak media sepanjang pekan pertama turnamen di SW19. Penyelenggara turnamen, All England Club (AELTC), akhirnya bersedia memberikan konsesi berupa proposal formula hadiah uang baru dan peningkatan keterwakilan pemain pada musim panas ini demi kelancaran kompetisi.

"Following constructive meetings between player representatives and AELTC leadership over the weekend, players have confirmed they will resume normal tournament media duties from Monday 29 June," ujar perwakilan pemain.

Pihak perwakilan menegaskan bahwa langkah ini diambil menyusul komitmen tertulis dari manajemen Wimbledon untuk merespons tuntutan awal para atlet.

"This decision is based on Wimbledon’s commitment to return with specific proposals addressing all three points of the players’ July 2025 submission. The underlying matters remain unresolved and players will carefully evaluate the proposals once received," tambah perwakilan pemain.

Dialog lebih lanjut dipastikan tetap berjalan sepanjang kompetisi guna merumuskan solusi jangka panjang.

"Players will also be providing Wimbledon with further information they have requested in connection with those proposals during the course of the tournament. Constructive dialogue with Wimbledon and the other grand slams will continue. The players and the club will make no further comment at this time," jelas perwakilan pemain.

Meskipun Wimbledon tahun ini telah menaikkan total hadiah sebesar 20 persen menjadi 64,2 juta poundsterling, angka tersebut masih berada di bawah tuntutan pemain sebesar 71 juta poundsterling. Saat ini, pembagian pendapatan untuk hadiah di Wimbledon hanya sebesar 14,4 persen, sementara para pemain menuntut porsi 16 persen sebagaimana standar yang mendekati angka tur ATP dan WTA sebesar 22 persen.

CEO AELTC, Sally Bolton, menyambut baik keputusan para pemain untuk kembali fokus pada jalannya pertandingan di lapangan.

"I think it’s great news that we and they can now just concentrate on the championships and on the tennis," kata Sally Bolton, CEO AELTC.

Bolton menambahkan bahwa komunikasi selama akhir pekan berlangsung sangat produktif bagi kedua belah pihak.

"We’ve had some really fruitful conversations over the weekend. They’ve been really positive," tutur Sally Bolton.

Pihak manajemen juga sedang menunggu data finansial lanjutan dari perwakilan pemain untuk pembahasan setelah turnamen usai.

"We’ve effectively agreed what we had agreed before, which is that we want to continue in positive dialogue, but we’ve been requesting financial information from their representative for quite some time," jelas Sally Bolton.

Data tersebut nantinya akan dievaluasi bersama guna menyusun strategi kemitraan yang lebih matang.

"He (Larry Scott) is going to provide that, and once we’ve got that financial information and we’ve had the chance to have a look at it, we can re-engage with those discussions after the championships," ungkap Sally Bolton.

Di sisi lain, petenis asal Inggris, Jack Draper, yang sebelumnya ikut menandatangani surat protes, memberikan pandangan positif terhadap upaya yang telah dilakukan oleh pihak Wimbledon tahun ini.

"Yeah, I mean, when I signed the letter, it definitely made a lot of sense to me about the player welfare and looking after some of the smaller things," kata Jack Draper, petenis Inggris.

Ia menilai bahwa turnamen besar seharusnya bisa berkontribusi lebih besar mengingat pendapatan yang mereka raih sangat tinggi.

"I think the slams can definitely contribute more for the amount the slams bring in. I think the ATP do a really good job of that in general," tambah Jack Draper.

Namun, Draper tetap memuji langkah konkret yang diambil oleh pihak All England Club pada musim ini.

"I think Wimbledon have really done an amazing job this year to increase the prize money. They’re doing other things behind the scenes that really are helping the players," ujar Jack Draper.

Draper menilai perhatian terhadap kesejahteraan pemain terus membaik dari tahun ke tahun.

"Yeah, I think Wimbledon as a tournament, and all the Grand Slams, to be fair, they’re improving every single year. I think having more attention on what they’re giving back to the players I think has been a good thing," tutur Jack Draper.

Petenis berusia 24 tahun tersebut juga sempat mengenang momen emosional dalam debutnya di Wimbledon saat berhadapan dengan Novak Djokovic pada tahun 2021.

"Yeah, I think it was a really special experience playing Novak, looking back," kata Jack Draper.

Ia mengingat betul bagaimana perasaan gugup menyelimutinya sejak proses pengundian jadwal pertandingan diumumkan.

"I think I was in the Aorangi when they were doing the draw, I saw his name, it was my name. I was like, Wow. A few days to sort of think about it," ungkap Jack Draper.

Persiapan mental yang terlalu menguras energi diakui menjadi pelajaran terbesar baginya kala itu.

"It was difficult in a way because I would say my biggest lessons from playing him and sort of I saw it after that as well by playing other matches when I came onto the tour, was almost not playing a match the day before," jelas Jack Draper.

Draper merasa tenaganya sudah terkuras bahkan sebelum menginjakkan kaki di arena pertandingan.

"When I played him, I was already doing my grips. The night before, I was already locked in listening to Gladiator. I was sort of playing the match five hours before I even faced him.

It’s a five-set match. It’s a tough, it’s a long battle," ujar Jack Draper.

Keunggulan kelas dari Djokovic akhirnya menyudahi perlawanan ketat Draper setelah sempat memenangi set pertama.

"I just remember playing the first set, thinking like I’ve already been playing this match in my mind for a day, I’m knackered. Obviously he showed his class," kenang Jack Draper.

Kondisi lapangan yang licin juga menambah tantangan berat dalam pertandingan debutnya tersebut.

"I think that day as well, the court was extremely slippy, as well. I remember that. It was one of those things, it’s like I just started out playing.

I was playing the futures. I didn’t know what I was doing with the tennis anymore. All my dreams of playing the Grand Slams and the big matches seemed like they disappeared when I played the futures, no one is there, no one is watching, in tough places," beber Jack Draper.

Meskipun kalah, bermain di Centre Court melawan pemain terbaik dunia mengembalikan motivasi terbesarnya dalam berkarier.

"To play him on Centre Court reminded me why I loved the sport and reminded me why I wanted to be a top player," pungkas Jack Draper.

Dilansir dari Washington Post, keputusan pembatalan boikot media ini dipastikan setelah adanya "constructive meetings" yang berjalan kondusif sepanjang akhir pekan kemarin.