Girl needing love as it happens (5)
I believe the answer is:
olive
'girl' is the definition.
(girl's name)
'love as it happens' is the wordplay.
'love' becomes 'o' (love means zero in tennis).
'as it happens' becomes 'live' (as in live television).
'o'+'live'='OLIVE'
'needing' is the link.
(Other definitions for olive that I've seen before include "One [TYPE OF TREE] is from the Mediterranean" , "Female" , "Oily stone fruit" , "Greyish-green colour" , "A Med. fruit-tree" .)