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"We have to understand that tennis is not going
to be the same, at least for one, two, three years. I don't know
how long," Lopez, who should have been preparing to defend his
Queen's Club title next week, said on Sunday.
No professional tournaments have been held since March because
of the COVID-19 pandemic and the shutdown will continue until
August.
Wimbledon was cancelled altogether while the French Open has
been moved to September. A decision over whether the U.S. Open
can go ahead in late August is expected next week.
Lopez, who is also tournament director of the Madrid Open, says
that even when things return to some kind of normal, prizemoney
will be reduced as sponsors try to navigate the economic fallout
of the virus.
"The companies and the sponsors, they might have to fire
employees," the 38-year-old Lopez was quoted as saying by the
BBC.
"This is happening everywhere in the world so the first thing
they cut is sponsorship, and this is going to be affecting
tennis massively.
"We need to survive this moment and we need to be united. "The
players need to understand that it's going to be a significant
reduction in the prize money.
"I see now the scenario where tournaments will survive with a
significant reduction in prize money -- not only for this year,
but also for (the) 2021 season."
Lopez believes the U.S. Open will go ahead despite the
reservations of his compatriot Rafa Nadal, the defending
champion, who says he would not be happy to travel to New York
in the current circumstances.
World number one Novak Djokovic has also expressed his doubts
about the tournament going ahead.
"I think the U.S. Open know there might be many players that
don't want to go and play there," he said.
"But I think the U.S. Open is not depending on only the top
players playing. My personal opinion is that they are planning
to have the event thinking that some of the top players -- I
don't know how many -- might not play."
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Toby Davis)
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