Tennis star is fifty fifty to bottle finish (5)

I believe the answer is:

lendl

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'tennis star' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I can't judge whether it can be defined by this definition.

'fifty fifty to bottle finish' is the wordplay.
'fifty' becomes 'L' (Roman numeral).
'fifty' becomes 'L' (Roman numeral).
'to bottle' means one lot of letters goes inside another (bottle can mean to contain).
'finish' becomes 'end' (synonyms).
'l'+'l'='ll'
'll' placed around 'end' is 'LENDL'.

'is' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for lendl that I've seen before include "Ivan --, tennis player" , "tennis expert" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.

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