Short tennis player once starting to serve in the net? (4-8)
I believe the answer is:
cash-strapped
'short' is the definition.
'tennis player once starting to serve in the net?' is the wordplay.
'tennis player once' becomes 'cash' (Pat Cash).
'starting to' suggests taking the first letters.
'in the net?' becomes 'trapped'.
The first letter of 'serve' is 's'.
'cash'+'s'+'trapped'='CASH-STRAPPED'
(Other definitions for cash-strapped that I've seen before include "Short of money (informal)" , "Extremely short of money" .)