Jack Draper Mundur dari Wimbledon 2026 Akibat Cedera Lengan

Petenis putra Inggris Jack Draper resmi mengundurkan diri dari turnamen Grand Slam Wimbledon 2026 di London pada Senin, 29 Juni 2026, hanya 24 jam sebelum laga babak pertama akibat cedera lengan berkepanjangan.

Pengunduran diri ini diumumkan bbc.com setelah Draper dijadwalkan menghadapi unggulan keenam asal Amerika Serikat, Taylor Fritz, di Lapangan Tengah pada Selasa. Masalah memar tulang pada lengan servisnya memaksa petenis berusia 24 tahun tersebut kembali absen dari turnamen besar.

Keputusan pahit ini menjadi pukulan besar kedua bagi publik tuan rumah setelah Emma Raducanu juga mundur pada hari Minggu karena cedera patah tulang stres di kaki kanannya.

"There have been a lot of painful moments in the last 12 months, but this one is definitely the absolute worst," ujar Jack Draper, Petenis Inggris.

Sebelum mengambil keputusan mundur, Draper sempat berbicara kepada media di Wimbledon pada hari Minggu dan memberikan pandangannya mengenai banyaknya cedera yang dialami para pemain muda di sirkuit ATP saat ini.

"The nature of my injuries, especially the one I had after Wimbledon last year, is extremely complicated. These are the kind of injuries where you're not sure when you can push and when you shouldn't. I play a very aggressive sport, where sometimes you have to go out on the court dealing with some discomfort.

Sometimes it's too much, sometimes it's not. I rely on the people around me, and I wouldn't be competing if there was a possibility that everything would go much worse, obviously." kata Jack Draper, Petenis Inggris.

Draper, yang kini didampingi Andy Murray dalam tim kepelatihannya, merefleksikan masa-masa sulit saat peringkat dunianya merosot tajam ke posisi 131 ATP setelah sempat menduduki peringkat empat dunia tahun lalu.

"It's very difficult. When I was younger, I had several setbacks, but I was able to bounce back and had a couple of years with hardly any. I made huge progress.

Last year I came here as the #4 in the world, I felt amazing, looking forward to what was to come. I felt that I was building a lot of confidence in my tennis, my body, and my mind. Then you go through something that makes you hit the brakes, and it happens when you least expect it." kata Jack Draper, Petenis Inggris.

Melalui wawancara yang dilansir dari puntodebreak.com, Draper menegaskan dedikasinya untuk membangun kembali kariernya dari awal dan merasa tingkat permainannya tidak hilang.

"I suppose now you have to look at it from the present, look at the positive side of everything: I have to rebuild myself and practically start over. I feel like my tennis hasn't gone anywhere: I haven't lacked dedication a single day during my recovery, and now I'm in a good place. I still believe, even after everything, that I am competing at a very high level. I am very eager to return to the top." kata Jack Draper, Petenis Inggris.

Mengenai kondisi fisiknya sebelum memutuskan mundur, Draper sempat menyatakan bahwa kekuatan dan pergerakannya berada dalam kondisi yang sangat baik meski belum sempurna.

"I would say that my power, when competing, is in a very good place. I'm moving great. Still far from perfect, but I'm getting closer.

It has been a very long process that has demanded a lot from me mentally, always thinking about coming back, time and again. At the same time, I feel that I can compete at a high level and challenge the best. I remember there was a stage, earlier this year, where I committed to many things.

I started using natural gut strings, made changes in different areas of my game, barely trained... now I'm in a position where I have that load and volume in my body and can go out there and focus solely on competing." kata Jack Draper, Petenis Inggris.

Ia juga menyoroti bagaimana tubuhnya tidak mampu menahan beban latihan berat saat mencoba mengejar level permainan petenis papan atas seperti Carlos Alcaraz dan Jannik Sinner.

"I think my arm injury is something I couldn't anticipate. It was bad luck. With muscles, it's more about workload, just like with bones.

We are in a sport where we compete all the time, train all the time, to improve our tennis. Last year I did great at the Masters 1000, trying to develop my tennis to get closer to players like Alcaraz and Sinner, who play at an incredibly high level. Simply, my body broke down." kata Jack Draper, Petenis Inggris.

Draper juga mengkritik jadwal padat turnamen Masters 1000 berdurasi 12 hari yang dinilainya memicu gelombang cedera bahu, lengan, dan pergelangan tangan pada pemain muda seperti Lorenzo Musetti dan Arthur Fils.

"I think it’s pretty worrying the state of men’s tennis, especially right now. The amount of injuries, especially young players." kata Jack Draper, Petenis Inggris.

Kritik tersebut juga diarahkan pada intensitas pukulan para atlet modern yang semakin keras dan cepat di dalam tur profesional saat ini.

"When I look at the draws for the weeks when I was out, everything is shoulder, arm, wrist. I think definitely the way athletes are getting better and hitting the ball harder and moving better... it’s my opinion they need to really take a close look at what we’re doing on tour." kata Jack Draper, Petenis Inggris.

Petenis kidal tersebut juga menambahkan bahwa pihak penyelenggara turnamen akan menanggung kerugian besar jika format kompetisi tidak segera diubah.

"Definitely the state of the Masters 1000s, the 12-day events. I was privy to those conversations when I was a top-10 player. Now I’m not.

I don’t care as much about what I say. I think the tournaments are going to suffer a lot if not much changes." kata Jack Draper, Petenis Inggris.

Di sisi lain, hari pertama turnamen tetap berlangsung meriah di All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club dengan kehadiran sejumlah tokoh di Royal Box Lapangan Tengah, termasuk David Beckham beserta ibunya Sandra, Mary Berry, Mark Rylance, dan Ronan Keating.