Singleton in spades stops south player taking extra ruff initially (8)
I believe the answer is:
spinster
'singleton' is the definition.
'in spades stops south player taking extra ruff initially' is the wordplay.
'spades' becomes 's' (abbreviation in card games).
'stops' is an insertion indicator.
'south player taking extra' becomes 'spte' (this might be a standard abbreviation which I don't know about).
'initially' indicates taking the first letters.
The initial letter of 'ruff' is 'r'.
'in'+'s'='ins'
'ins' inserted within 'spte' is 'spinste'.
'spinste'+'r'='SPINSTER'
(Other definitions for spinster that I've seen before include "Unmarried older woman" , "Elderly unmarried woman" , "For example, Miss Havisham" , "old maid, perhaps" , "She never married" .)