Crossword Genius

Tennis player’s trophy for winning a series of matches (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

ashes

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'winning a series of matches' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'tennis player's trophy' is the wordplay.
'tennis player' becomes 'Ashe' (Arthur Ashe).
'trophy' becomes 's' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'ashe'+'s'='ASHES'

'for' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for ashes that I've seen before include "sporting trophy" , "Powders remaining after fire" , "Residue from fire" , "Burnt residue" , "Remnants of a fire" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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