Format guide

Padel Americano

An Americano is the most sociable way to run a padel tournament. You don't enter with a partner: you play with someone new every round, and every point you win goes on your own total. Whoever has the most points at the end wins.

How an Americano works

The whole schedule is set before the first ball. Each round, every court gets four players in two pairs. You play one match, the score goes in, and you move to your next court and your next partner. Over a full Americano each player partners every other player once.

With 8 players there are 28 possible partnerships, and two courts use four of them a round, so a full Americano is 7 rounds. Because partners keep changing, a strong player can't carry a weaker one all night and nobody is stuck with the same pair. That's why it's the usual format for club socials and groups of mixed levels.

Scoring

Most Americanos play to a total number of points: the match ends when the two sides' points add up to the target. A 24-point match can end 14–10, or 12–12. Each player then adds their side's points to their own total, so after a 14–10 win you and your partner get 14 each and your opponents 10 each.

Serve usually passes round the four players after a fixed number of points, so everyone serves the same amount. Sixteen points makes for a quick event, 24 suits most club nights and 32 gives longer matches. You can also count games instead of points, or play first to a number (first to 21) rather than to a total.

Because every point counts, a close loss is worth nearly as much as a narrow win, and nobody stops trying when a match has gone. If two players finish level, the usual tie-break is point difference: points won minus points lost. Head-to-head and matches won are the other common choices.

Players, courts and sitting out

Each court takes four players, so the courts you can fill are the players divided by four, rounded down. When the number isn't a multiple of four, some players sit out each round. With 9 players on two courts, one sits out each round, and over 9 rounds everyone sits out once.

A player who sits out needs points for the round, or they'd fall behind for something they didn't choose. There are two fair ways to do it: give them half a match's points (12 in a 24-point Americano), or their own average per match so far.

Rounds for everyone to partner everyone once, with 5 or 9 players one sitting out each round. Times are for 24-point matches, at about 24 seconds a point and 2 minutes between rounds. Short of time? Play fewer rounds: the partners are still spread as evenly as they can be, as Only two courts? shows.

Only two courts?

Most clubs book courts by the hour, and on two courts a full Americano runs past the booking once there are more than 8 players: 12 players need 17 rounds, about 3 h 25, and 16 need 30 rounds, over 6 hours. So play the rounds that fit instead. Partners and sit-outs are still shared out as evenly as they can be.

Two courts at 24 points a match, leaving 5 minutes to warm up. Matches are how many each player gets.

Play shorter matches. At 16 points, 9 rounds fit in 90 minutes instead of 7, so 16 players get 4 or 5 matches each rather than 3 or 4.

Or play a Mexicano or King of the Court. Neither has a rotation to finish, so stopping when the time is up never leaves one half done, and the matches stay close.

Let SetPoint do the sums. Tell it how long you have the courts and it suggests the rounds that fit, says how many matches everyone gets, and offers a shorter match when too few fit. If the courts free up, add a round as you go; if the booking runs short, end after the round being played.

Mixed and Team Americano

Mixed Americano makes every pair one woman and one man. Partners still change every round, so each woman plays with each man, and extra players on either side take turns sitting out.

Team Americano is for fixed pairs. You enter with a partner and play every other pair once, and points count for the team. Four pairs on two courts take 3 rounds.

Want closer matches as the night goes on? A Mexicano pairs each round from the leaderboard instead.

Questions

How many players do you need for an Americano?

At least four, for one court. Any number works after that: players who don't fit on a court sit out in turns. Multiples of four mean nobody sits out.

How many rounds should an Americano have?

Enough for everyone to partner everyone once: 7 rounds for 8 players on two courts, 11 for 12 players on three. With one player sitting out each round, it's one round per player, so everyone sits out once. When the courts are booked for less than that, play the rounds that fit: 7 in 90 minutes on two courts at 24 points.

What's the difference between Americano and Mexicano?

An Americano's schedule is fixed before you start, so you play with everyone. A Mexicano sets each round from the leaderboard, so players of a similar level end up together and the matches stay close.

Does the player who wins the most matches win?

No. An Americano counts points, not wins. Losing 11–13 still puts 11 on your total, so every point in every match matters.