Crossword Genius

Backing boy: a new tennis star (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

nadal

'tennis star' is the definition.
(tennis player Rafael Nadal)

'backing boy a new' is the wordplay.
'backing' says the letters should be written backwards.
'boy' becomes 'lad' (informal term for boy).
'new' becomes 'n' (common abbreviation eg NT for New Testament).
'lad'+'a'+'n'='ladan'
'ladan' in reverse letter order is 'NADAL'.

(Other definitions for nadal that I've seen before include "Star with a 30 [RACKET]" , "Top tennis player" , "tennis champion" , "court figure" , "Rafael __, Spanish tennis player" .)

I've seen this clue in The Sun.
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