The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 letter word GRAF
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
G
R
A
F
More clues leading to the result GRAF
- Wimbledon champion’s good service
- It takes endless hard work to produce a tennis champion
- Count German fliers
- Count half of wall drawings
- Airmen support golf or tennis player
- Good fliers count in Germany
- Count plot as rumour
- Tennis player’s good service
- Endless hard work to become a tennis player
- Tennis champion‘s good service
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "a tennis champion" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case a tennis champion = graf.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.