Crossword Genius

Very strong tennis competition for the English (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

intense

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'very strong' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)

'tennis competition for the english' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
an anagram of 'tennis' is 'intens' which is present in the answer.
'english' could be 'e' (abbreviation) and 'e' is located in the answer.
No letters remain.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for intense that I've seen before include "amplified?" , "Acute, concentrated" , "Highly emotional" , "burning" , "Strong in quality or degree - perhaps a feeling" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Independent.
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