The coach of a top-ranked tennis player was arrested on suspicion of murder
The tennis world was rocked Thursday after a coach for one of the more well-known players on the men's tour was arrested in connection with the murder of 42-year-old Koen Everink, a Dutch millionaire businessman.
Mark De Jong, the coach for world No. 59 Robin Haase, was arrested on suspicion of murder Thursday by Dutch authorities at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, according to a report from The Telegraph. Haase and De Jong had returned to Amsterdam after Haase, a Dutch national, pulled out of this week's Miami Open.
Everink was found dead at his home in Utrecht by his daughter on March 4. He reportedly had been stabbed to death. Days later, both Haase and De Jong arrived in California for the Indian Wells tournament, and The Telegraph said sources close to Haase and De Jong claimed the pair were shocked by Everink's death.
Via The Telegraph:
The tragedy was already well known to the small knot of Dutch players who travel around with the tour. Those around Haase and De Jong say that they arrived in Indian Wells in a state of shock, but there was no sense of secretiveness.
De Jong even told his tennis colleagues that he had been at the house in Bilthoven on the night of March 3 and had possibly been the last person to see Everink alive.
Haase has not been not arrested or held in connection with the case. He was reportedly friends with Everink. The Dutch No. 1 tennis player has never advanced beyond the third round of any Grand Slam tournament on the ATP circuit but is a long-time competitor on the tour.
