EDITORIAL STYLE GUIDE FOR USE WITH TEXT, BOOKS AND MAGAZINES PUBLISHED BY USTA TEXAS Updated April 2015 When in question please first refer to The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law unless individually noted below USTA TEXAS USTA Texas: Always use alone as USTA Texas and in second reference. Avoid and do not the use of the word “section” before or after the name. Example of correct name usage: The award was given by USTA Texas. USTA Texas is hosting the All Comers Camp for wheelchair tennis player. Do not use any of the below abbreviations or forms: USTA Texas Section USTA‐TX USTA TEXAS USTA Tex SPELLING OF USTA OR TENNIS TERMS ad court ball person backhand backswing baseline break point, set point, match point changeover, not change‐over clay court (clay‐court as adjective) court (various uses): hard court, grass court, clay court, (2 words as noun, hyphenate as adj) forecourt, midcourt, backcourt, crosscourt (1 word) courtside crossover CTA’s (possessive), CTAs (plural) – spell out in first reference Community Tennis Association’s deuce court double fault draw sheet drop shot final (singular only), semifinal(s), quarterfinal(s) first round (n); first‐round (adj) 2
foot fault grass court (grass‐court as adjective) grass roots, grass‐roots (adj) ground stroke hard court (hard‐court as adjective) Junior Team Tennis (now spelled out not Jr. Team Tennis) JTT second reference left hand, left‐hander (n); left‐hand, left‐handed (adj) (Same applies for right hand) linesman, but lines person match play, net play National Junior Tennis & Learning (NJTL) net cord, net post no‐ad scoring park and recreation departments playoff (n), play off (v) racquet, not racket round robin (n); round‐robin format (adj) serve and volley (n), serve‐and‐volley (adj) sport science, not sports science; but sports psychology 10 and Under Tennis (10U in second reference only) tie‐break, not tiebreaker or tie break timeout top seed (n), top‐seeded (adj) tryout (n), try out (v) US Open (no periods with US) USTA League USTA Pro Circuit USTA School Tennis USTA Serves USTA Texas USTA Junior Team Tennis (not Jr.) USTA Wheelchair Tennis World TeamTennis (one word on TeamTennis) 3
SPELLING ‐ GENERAL adviser, not advisor African‐American (hyphenate and capitalize both as a noun and adjective) assure (see ensure) backward, not backwards bi‐weekly (occurring every two weeks – semi‐weekly also means every two weeks) bottom line (n); bottom‐line (adj) bylaw, not by‐law coed (noun and adj) communications (not communication, when referring to broadcasting, radio, newspapers, etc.) deadline decision making (n); decision‐making (adj) delegate at large (no hyphens) drop‐hit dropout email (lowercase e) ensure (to make certain); insure (to protect against); assure (to give confidence to someone) everyday (adj); every day (adv) every one (when it means each individual item); everyone (when used to mean all persons) flier, flyer (Flier is the preferred term for an aviator of handbill. Flyer is the proper name for some trains and buses.) fine‐tune (v) first‐hand (adj and adverb) fundraiser, fundraising (n); fundraising (adj); fund raising (v) follow‐up (n. & adj); follow up (v) freelance (n., adj., v.) grantmaker, grantseeker grass‐roots (adj) grass roots (noun) groundbreaking (adj) groundwork insure (see ensure) Internet lead time (two words) left hand, left‐hander (n); left‐hand, left‐handed (adj) lifelong (adj) lifestyle 4
lineup (n); line up (v) long‐range (adj) makeup (n); make up (v) member at large (no hyphens) most important, not most importantly national, regional, sectional nationwide (close up all –wide words, e.g., worldwide, citywide) nonprofit (noun and adj); not‐for‐profit online president‐elect, President‐elect Johnson promotion (not promotions, when referring to advertising and promotional activities) push up racquet, not racket record holder right hand, right‐hander (n); right‐hand, right‐handed (adj) runner up, runners up section Use –al and make lowercase when using it as an adjective (see national and regional above). Example: The sectional meetings were all held in January. However if it is used and is a part of the official title, use and capitalize it. Example: USTA Texas Sectional Qualifying Tournament. setup (n); set up (v) sign‐up (adj); sign up (v) sit‐ups sport science, but sports psychology T‐shirt teen, teenager (n) teenage (adj); do not use teenaged toward, not towards tryout (n); try out (v) underway (adj); under way (v) upward (not upwards) used to, not use to vice president, not vice‐president; vice chairman, not vice‐chairman warm‐up (n & adj); warm up (v) website, not Website or Web site (the latter being AP Style) wide‐ranging (adj) 5
well‐being (n) work force workout (n); work out (v) workplace worldwide wrap‐up (n & adj); wrap up (v) year‐end yearlong year‐round ZIP code (use all‐caps for ZIP for Zoning Improvement Plan, but always lowercase the word code. CAPITALIZATION/LOWERCASE Capitalize:  All proper nouns (i.e., the official name of particular persons, places, or things)  ATP World Tour, WTA  Satellites, Challengers, Futures, Circuit, Challenge Round  Boys’ 12 Clay Court, Men’s 35 Singles, but Boys’ 18, Girls’ 14 (when the number is not followed by a word)  Note – P.R. usually uses Boys’ 12s, Men’s 35s, etc.  Grand Slam, Slam Capitalize whether referring to a single Grand Slam event or all four events. However, when referring to only one of the slams, use a term to make this clear (e.g., Grand Slam event, Grand Slam tournament, etc.).  Names of specific sections or districts (e.g., USTA Midwest; Allegheny Mountain District), but not general references to them (e.g., The USTA sections play a crucial role in the organization.) Do not us the word section after the name (USTA Texas; USTA Southwest)  Names of specific committees and departments, but not general references to them (e.g., the Strategic Planning Committee, the Competitive Department, but ex: When the committee met in June, it chose a consultant to work on the plan.) 6
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All job and organizational titles used directly before an individuals name: President, Chairman, Executive Director, Director at Large, Council Chair, Section Delegate, Past President, Director of Marketing, Advertising Manager, etc. (lowercase and spell out titles when they are not used with and individual’s name: The president of USTA Texas issued a statement.) – (lowercase and spell out titles when in construction that set them off from a name by commas: The vice president, Joe Biden, decided to run again.) “Annual Meeting” and “Semiannual Meeting” when referring to the name of a specific meeting (e.g., the USTA Texas Annual Meeting; the USTA Semiannual Meeting) and in references to USTA meetings preceded by the word “the” (e.g., The Annual Meeting will be held at Horseshoe Bay this year.) Do not capitalize even when referring to the USTA when it is modified by a word other than “the”; such constructions are considered terms of general classification (e.g., At their annual meeting, all staff took part in a team‐building exercise.). “Board of Directors” and “Board” when referring to the USTA, but lowercase when used with a modifier other than “the” (i.e., use the same construction as with annual meeting above). Example: The Board will meet alone a day before general sessions of the Annual Meeting begin. BUT: We’ll discuss a membership dues increase with our board of directors. 
Organization Member (when referring to that category of USTA Membership, i.e., clubs, community tennis associations, schools, parks and recreation departments, etc.)  Texas. Do not abbreviate in datelines or stories. Only use TX as the postal code or as part of a mailing address or to shorten in social media usage. No need to use “State of Texas.” Just use word Texas. Lowercase:  association and organization, when referring to the USTA or USTA Texas in second reference  community tennis association when used in a general sense, and cap when referring to a specific CTA by its official name (e.g., the Flower Mound Community Tennis Association, Wimberley Community Tennis Association)  final (always singular), semifinal(s), quarterfinal(s), second round  singles, doubles, mixed doubles, round robin, etc., except when referring to a particular championship, for example, US Open Championships Men’s Singles  national organization, national office, or when referring to the section office in second reference 7
Tennis Terms – Miscellaneous Style Elements Boys’ 18 (or Boys’ 18s) Main Draw No. 2 seed (not #2) Top 10 (not top 10) Tiebreaker (not tiebreak) US Open (no periods with US and close up) 40‐Love (the more usual construction is 40‐0) 40‐all or deuce Qualifying round of 16 Round Robin Scores: 6‐0, 3‐6, 6‐4 (not 60, 36, 64 unless for newspaper agget listings) Scores tiebreakers: Indicated tiebreakers in parentheses after the set score, using only the lower number 7‐6(9). Texas cities: Only Dallas, Houston and San Antonio do not require word Texas after word. All other Texas cities require state when used story form. No state needed if used with name and parentheses list form to establish hometown Paragraph form: Julie Cass, of Austin, Texas won eight gold balls. Parentheses list form: Six Texans, Tony Dawson (Austin), Mark Meyers (Houston), William Wolff (Fort Worth), Sue Bramlette (Houston), Mary John Lynch (Rockport) and Margaret Canby (San Antonio), were named to the US International Tennis Federation (ITF) Super‐Seniors World Team. PUNCTUATION Comma: FOR BOOKS: Use the final comma in a series (e.g., Red, white, and blue.) FOR MAGAZINES/NEWSPAPERS/RELEASES: Omit the final comma in a series (e.g., red, white and blue.) Insert a comma after the abbreviations i.e. and e.g. In 2005, USTA Texas hosted seven events to introduce inner‐city children to the game of tennis and conducted several open forums on diversity as part of one its strategic priorities (i.e., to increase multicultural participation). When writing a score in the text, insert commas around the score. 8
Andy Roddick defeated Justin Gimelstob, 6‐4, 7‐6(4), 6‐2, in the first round of the US Open. Dash vs. Hyphen: The dash is most often used in place of the comma, semicolon, colon or parentheses to create a much more emphatic separation of words within a sentence. Example: At our annual banquet, the speakers—and the food—were superb. With Quotation Marks: Periods and commas always go inside the closing quotation mark. This is true with both single and double quotation marks. “I have to win the Open,” Hackett said. “My immediate goal is to break the Top 50,” Tosha Smith said. Stephen said, “Please let me see all the tickets marked ‘Priority.’ ” “All he could say was ‘I choked,’ ” answered Tom’s coach. Semicolons and colons always go outside the closing quotation mark. This is true with both single and double quotation marks. Last week you said, “I will mail the check today”; it still hasn’t arrived. Send me the following items from the file marked “In Process”: my expense report, the memo to Lee Hamilton, and the draft of the article for USTA Magazine. “Tickets to the Open are coveted by the ‘rank and file’; we hope we’ll have enough for everyone,” Pat said. A question mark or exclamation point goes inside the closing quotation mark when it applies only to the quoted material. She asked, “How do you think you did in the competitive events?” At the USTA, you often hear the challenge, “Get in the game!” A question mark or exclamation point goes outside the closing quotation mark when it applies to the entire sentence. 9
Why didn’t you just tell him, “Get lost”? Stop saying, “Don’t worry”! FORMING POSSESSIVES SINGULAR NOUNS Form the possessive of a singular noun not ending in s by adding ’s. McEnroe’s career His coach’s instruction To form the possessive of singular nouns ending in s or an s sound, Add ’s if a new syllable is formed. Seles’s stabbing during a match in Germany dramatically altered her life. Reaching tennis’s summit requires talent, hard work, and discipline. Conchita Martinez’s game has improved. (Martinez ends in an s sound.) Add only the apostrophe ONLY if the addition of an extra syllable would make a word ending in s hard to pronounce. Mr. Hastings’ proposal PLURAL NOUNS For a regular plural noun (i.e., one that ends in s or es), add only an ’ to form the plural possessive. Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day He has 12 years’ experience in the leagues. For an irregular plural noun (one that does not end in s), add ’s to form the plural possessive. women’s tennis outfits children’s leagues 10
NUMBERS Basic Rule: Spell out numbers 1 through 9, except in the following cases. EXCEPTIONS (please especially note the fourth bullet for money):  Use figures for all numbers—even 1 through 9—in technical materials, tables, and charts and in expressions of dates (June 1), money ($4), time (3 p.m.), percentages (3 percent), and proportions (9‐to‐1 chance).  Always spell out a number that begins a sentence. Twenty‐two tournaments were held in the USTA Eastern area this year.  In terms of measurement – 4 inches, 6 feet  In front of millions, billions, etc. – $8 million  In front of percentages – 8 percent Use a comma in four‐digit numbers: 1,969, 3,890 (not 1969, 3890) Rankings: He was ranked No. 5. (not #5) PERCENTAGES Express percentages in figures and spell out the word percent. Almost 85 percent of professional tennis players do not finish college. In a range of percentages, the word percent follows the last figure only. We give discounts of 10, 15, and 20 percent to different membership categories. The % symbol is often used in tables and with statistical or technical data but not in basic writing and should be avoided. Always use the numeral when using percentages. We were successful just 9 percent of the time. 11
AGE Use hyphens with expressions like: The 12‐year‐olds went to the US Open. The 12‐year‐old boys went to the Open. BUT: He is 12 years old. 16‐and‐under division The program is open to all 6‐ to 18‐year‐olds. (Leave a space after the hyphen that follows the first number in the range.) Use 12s, 45s, 65s when referring to age groupings in tennis DATES Omit comma when using month and year alone: February 2005 Use a comma after the day when using month, day, and year: January 3, 2005 Within a sentence, two commas set off the year following the month and day. The USTA Awards Dinner was held on November 19, 2005, at the National Tennis Center. If the day comes first, abbreviate the month so it’s: “Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2005” Form the plurals of decades by adding an s without an apostrophe: the 1990s When the day follows the month, do not use th, st, nd, or rd. June 6 (not June 6th) With century, do not capitalize century. 21st century 20th‐century tennis TIME Use the abbreviations a.m. and p.m. These abbreviations should be lowercase letters separated by periods without internal space. Use figures with a.m. and p.m. We leave at 9:45 p.m. 12
For time “on the hour,” zeros are not needed to denote minutes. The match starts at 2 p.m. The ticket window is open from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Noon and midnight may be expressed in words alone: The match starts at noon. The match ran from noon until 2:45 p.m. He didn’t get to sleep until midnight. STATE ABBREVIATIONS FOR MAIL ONLY: Use capitalized two‐letter abbreviations without periods (e.g., AL, NV, WA). FOR MAGAZINES/RELEASES: Use the more traditional and standard American English / AP Stylebook abbreviation (e.g., Ala., Nev., Wash., Calif.). TEXAS: Always spell out Texas. It is one of the seven states that you do not abbreviate. TX was created by the postal service and should only be used in postal addresses and never as an abbreviation for Texas. MISCELLANEOUS Use one space after a period or other punctuation mark at the end of a sentence. Note: It is best to use one space when justifying text. Lowercase the names of seasons. The US Open is held in the summer. Don’t confuse possessive pronouns with contractions. Possessive Contraction its it’s theirs there’s your you’re Updated 4.6.2015 13