Figures holding back in game (6)
I believe the answer is:
tennis
'game' is the definition.
(I know that tennis is a type of court game)
'figures holding back in' is the wordplay.
'figures' becomes 'tens' (ten is a number).
'holding' indicates putting letters inside.
'back' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'in' backwards is 'ni'.
'tens' going around 'ni' is 'TENNIS'.
(Other definitions for tennis that I've seen before include "Sport Dwight Davis gave trophy for" , "Ball sport" , "Racquet sport" , "Court-based sport" , "Game played with racket and ball" .)