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LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Russian tennis players Karen Khachanov and Liudmila Samsonova have declined to play at the Paris Olympics. The IOC says their next highest ranked compatriots have been invited instead to compete as neutrals during the military invasion of Ukraine. Pavel Kotov, the 50th-ranked men's player, and No. 17 Anna Kalinskaya were invited instead to the eight-person Russian tennis team for Paris. The Olympic tournament is at Roland Garros from July 27-Aug. 4. The top two Russian men's players Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev have neither confirmed nor declined their invitations to the International Olympic Committee. Rublev reportedly will not play.
