Top tennis player, so we hear, is to step down (4)
I believe the answer is:
cede
'to step down' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are verbs in their base form, I don't understand how one could define the other.
'top tennis player so we hear' is the wordplay.
'top tennis player' becomes 'seed' (a seeded player).
'so we hear' indicates a 'sounds like' (homophone) clue.
'seed' is a homophone of 'CEDE'.
'is' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for cede that I've seen before include "Deliver" , "Give up (territory)" , "Allow" , "Give away" , "Give up one's rights" .)