Pays for, when one has as an opponent (5)
I believe the answer is:
meets
'pays for' is the definition.
(as in to meet a bill)
'one has as an opponent' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'one' could be 'me' (a setter might use 'one' to humourously mean 'me') and 'me' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'ets' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'when' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for meets that I've seen before include "sports gatherings" , "Comes across" , "Gathers together" , "Hunt assemblies" , "Makes contact with" .)