Top tennis player reportedly to give up (4)
I believe the answer is:
cede
'give up' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'top tennis player reportedly' is the wordplay.
'top tennis player' becomes 'seed' (a seeded player).
'reportedly' indicates a 'sounds like' (homophone) clue.
'seed' is a homophone of 'CEDE'.
'to' is the link.
(Other definitions for cede that I've seen before include "Give up (power to another)" , "Give up rights or possession" , "Give up (territory)" , "Surrender or relinquish possession" , "Surrender, give up" .)