The padel Americano tournament

The rules in short

• You play four to a court: with 8 players you need 2 courts, with 12 you need 3.
• Every round the pairs change according to a table decided beforehand: everyone partners each of the others once.
• A match lasts a fixed number of points, usually 16, 21, 24 or 32 in total, or a fixed time. Every rally is worth a point: a 24-point match can end 15-9, 13-11 or even 12-12.
• Each player takes their pair's points: whoever wins 15-9 adds 15 to their total, whoever loses adds 9.
• The highest total wins. On equal points, the player with more matches won usually comes first.

Serving

With point scoring there are no games: the serve passes to another player at fixed intervals, so everyone serves the same number of times. With 32 points it usually changes every four points, and each of the four players serves twice. The organizer says so before you start.

Rounds for 4 players

One court and three rounds: everyone partners each of the other three once.

• Round 1: 1 and 2 vs 3 and 4
• Round 2: 1 and 3 vs 2 and 4
• Round 3: 1 and 4 vs 2 and 3

Rounds for 8 players

Two courts and seven rounds. Number the players from 1 to 8 and follow the table: everyone partners each of the other seven once and faces each of them exactly twice. With 24-point matches it takes about two to two and a half hours.

• Round 1: 1 and 2 vs 3 and 5 · 4 and 8 vs 6 and 7
• Round 2: 1 and 3 vs 4 and 6 · 2 and 5 vs 7 and 8
• Round 3: 1 and 4 vs 5 and 7 · 2 and 8 vs 3 and 6
• Round 4: 1 and 5 vs 6 and 8 · 2 and 3 vs 4 and 7
• Round 5: 1 and 6 vs 2 and 7 · 3 and 4 vs 5 and 8
• Round 6: 1 and 7 vs 3 and 8 · 2 and 6 vs 4 and 5
• Round 7: 1 and 8 vs 2 and 4 · 3 and 7 vs 5 and 6

Rounds for 12 players

Three courts and eleven rounds, with the same property: everyone partners each of the other eleven once and faces each of them twice.

• Round 1: 1 and 2 vs 3 and 5 · 4 and 11 vs 8 and 9 · 6 and 12 vs 7 and 10
• Round 2: 1 and 3 vs 4 and 6 · 2 and 7 vs 8 and 11 · 5 and 12 vs 9 and 10
• Round 3: 1 and 4 vs 5 and 7 · 2 and 6 vs 10 and 11 · 3 and 8 vs 9 and 12
• Round 4: 1 and 5 vs 6 and 8 · 2 and 10 vs 4 and 9 · 3 and 7 vs 11 and 12
• Round 5: 1 and 6 vs 7 and 9 · 2 and 12 vs 4 and 8 · 3 and 11 vs 5 and 10
• Round 6: 1 and 7 vs 8 and 10 · 2 and 3 vs 5 and 9 · 4 and 12 vs 6 and 11
• Round 7: 1 and 8 vs 9 and 11 · 2 and 5 vs 7 and 12 · 3 and 4 vs 6 and 10
• Round 8: 1 and 9 vs 10 and 12 · 2 and 8 vs 3 and 6 · 4 and 5 vs 7 and 11
• Round 9: 1 and 10 vs 2 and 11 · 3 and 9 vs 4 and 7 · 5 and 6 vs 8 and 12
• Round 10: 1 and 11 vs 3 and 12 · 2 and 9 vs 6 and 7 · 4 and 10 vs 5 and 8
• Round 11: 1 and 12 vs 2 and 4 · 3 and 10 vs 7 and 8 · 5 and 11 vs 6 and 9

With 5, 6 or other numbers

If the number of players is not a multiple of four, someone sits out every round, and the table must make everyone sit out the same number of times. So as not to penalize those sitting out, some organizers give them the average points of that round; others base the standings on the average points per match instead of the total.

The Mexicano variant

In a Mexicano the first round is drawn; from the second, pairs are formed from the current standings, usually first and fourth against second and third, fifth and eighth against sixth and seventh. That way matches stay balanced until the last round.

With Tennis Padel Score

Tennis Padel Score tournaments with friends and club tournaments have an Americano tournament format, for 4 to 24 players. Everyone enters alone with a link; at the draw the platform gives each player a number and builds the rounds from the right table: with 4, 5, 8, 9, 12 or 13 players, and so on up to 24, everyone partners each of the others once; with the other numbers everyone sits out the same number of times and nobody gets the same partner twice. If there are fewer courts than matches in a round, the extra matches are played afterwards, in the same round.

Players enter the match points from their phones and the other pair confirms them; the individual standings update by themselves, using the average per match when someone sits out every round. There is also a mixed Americano, where every pair is a man and a woman. Americano matches are recorded from the tournament page on the phone, with nothing to install.