Sally made the sportiest heart-broken (7)
I believe the answer is:
riposte
'sally' is the definition.
(both can mean a witty remark)
'the sportiest heart-broken' is the wordplay.
'heart' indicates the central letters.
'broken' indicates anagramming the letters.
The centre of 'sportiest' is 'porties'.
'porties' anagrammed gives 'RIPOSTE'.
'made' is the link.
(Other definitions for riposte that I've seen before include "Quick retort or return thrust in fencing" , "Quick and witty reply" , "Rejoinder" , "Reply, response" , "Repartee; quick thrust (fencing)" .)