One with no hope of French act winning (9)
I believe the answer is:
defeatist
'one with no hope' is the definition.
(someone lacking hope or optimism)
'of french act winning' is the wordplay.
'of french' becomes 'de' ('of' in French).
'act' becomes 'feat' (feat is a kind of act).
'winning' becomes 'ist' (fst).
'de'+'feat'+'ist'='DEFEATIST'
(Other definitions for defeatist that I've seen before include "expecting to fail" , "He does not expect to win" , "If date set (anag.)" , "One giving in too easily" , "One expects frustration" .)