Whether you're organizing your first padel tournament or looking to understand why you keep getting different partners each round, this guide breaks down the most popular tournament formats and explains exactly how pairs are generated.

Overview of Formats

Padelio supports four main tournament formats for doubles play:

Americano: The Social Favorite

Americano is the most popular format for social padel events. The key principle is simple: you get a different partner every round.

How Pairs Are Generated

The algorithm follows a "greedy random" approach that minimizes repeated partnerships:

1. All players are shuffled into a queue
2. Players are grouped into sets of 4 for each court
3. For each group, the system evaluates three possible pairings
4. The pairing with the fewest repeated partnerships is selected

Example: 8 Players, 2 Courts

Round 1 (Random assignment):

• Court 1: Alice & Bob vs Carlos & Diana
• Court 2: Eva & Frank vs Grace & Henry

Round 2 (Minimize repeats):

The system tracks that Alice played with Bob, Carlos with Diana, etc. For round 2, it might generate:

• Court 1: Alice & Carlos vs Bob & Diana
• Court 2: Eva & Grace vs Frank & Henry

Now Alice has a new partner (Carlos), and everyone experiences different team dynamics.

Round 3 (Continue minimizing):

• Court 1: Alice & Diana vs Bob & Carlos
• Court 2: Eva & Henry vs Frank & Grace

The Pairing Decision

When 4 players (P1, P2, P3, P4) are grouped, the system evaluates:

Option A: (P1 + P2) vs (P3 + P4)
Option B: (P1 + P3) vs (P2 + P4)
Option C: (P1 + P4) vs (P2 + P3)

It calculates the total "partnership count" for each option and picks the lowest. If Alice and Bob already played together twice, any option pairing them again scores higher and is avoided.

Mexicano: Performance-Based Grouping

Mexicano adds a competitive twist: after round 1, players are grouped by their tournament standings.

How Pairs Are Generated

Round 1: Players are either randomized or sorted by skill level (if provided), then grouped into matches.

Round 2 onwards:

1. Calculate each player's points from previous matches
2. Sort all players by points (highest to lowest)
3. Group into sets of 4
4. Apply the Mexicano pairing formula: (1st + 4th) vs (2nd + 3rd)

Example: 8 Players After Round 1

Standings after Round 1:

1. Alice - 12 points
2. Bob - 10 points
3. Carlos - 8 points
4. Diana - 6 points
5. Eva - 6 points
6. Frank - 4 points
7. Grace - 2 points
8. Henry - 0 points

Round 2 groupings:

Top Group (positions 1-4):

• Team A: Alice (1st) + Diana (4th)
• Team B: Bob (2nd) + Carlos (3rd)

Bottom Group (positions 5-8):

• Team A: Eva (5th) + Henry (8th)
• Team B: Frank (6th) + Grace (7th)

Why (1st + 4th) vs (2nd + 3rd)?

This creates balanced matches:

• The best player (1st) partners with the weakest in the group (4th)
• The second-best (2nd) partners with the third-best (3rd)

This prevents the top two players from dominating together while keeping matches competitive.

Mixin: Skill-Balanced Mixing

Mixin is designed for events with mixed skill levels where you want every match to be competitive.

How Pairs Are Generated

1. Calculate each player's skill level (from profile or tournament performance)
2. Split all players into TOP half and BOTTOM half by skill
3. Pair one TOP player with one BOTTOM player
4. Match teams with similar total skill levels

Example: 8 Players with Skill Ratings

Players and their skill levels:

• Alice (Level 8) - TOP
• Bob (Level 7) - TOP
• Carlos (Level 6) - TOP
• Diana (Level 5) - TOP
• Eva (Level 4) - BOTTOM
• Frank (Level 3) - BOTTOM
• Grace (Level 2) - BOTTOM
• Henry (Level 1) - BOTTOM

Team Formation:

• Team 1: Alice (8) + Henry (1) = Level Sum 9
• Team 2: Bob (7) + Grace (2) = Level Sum 9
• Team 3: Carlos (6) + Frank (3) = Level Sum 9
• Team 4: Diana (5) + Eva (4) = Level Sum 9

Match Pairing:

Teams are matched by closest level sums:

• Court 1: Team 1 (9) vs Team 2 (9)
• Court 2: Team 3 (9) vs Team 4 (9)

Every match has evenly balanced teams!

Partner Selection Algorithm

When picking a partner from the BOTTOM pool, the system also considers partner history to avoid repeating the same pairings:

For TOP player Alice:
  Look at BOTTOM pool: [Eva, Frank, Grace, Henry]
  Check how many times Alice played with each
  Select the one with fewest prior partnerships

King of the Court: Hierarchical Competition

King of the Court creates a ladder system where winners move up and losers move down.

How It Works

Courts are ranked from 1 (top) to N (bottom). After each round:

• Winners on Court 1 stay on Court 1
• Losers on Court 1 move down to Court 2
• Winners on Court 2 move up to Court 1
• Losers on Court 2 move down to Court 3
• And so on...

Example: 12 Players, 3 Courts

Round 1 (Random assignment):

• Court 1: Alice & Bob vs Carlos & Diana
• Court 2: Eva & Frank vs Grace & Henry
• Court 3: Ivan & Julia vs Kevin & Laura

Results:

• Court 1: Alice & Bob win
• Court 2: Grace & Henry win
• Court 3: Kevin & Laura win

Round 2 (Routing based on results):

• Court 1: Alice & Bob (stayed) vs Grace & Henry (moved up)
• Court 2: Carlos & Diana (moved down) vs Eva & Frank (stayed)
• Court 3: Ivan & Julia (stayed) vs Kevin & Laura (stayed... wait!)

Key Feature: Pair Preservation

Unlike other formats, King of the Court tries to keep winning pairs together:

If Alice & Bob won together on Court 1:
  → They stay together on Court 1 for Round 2

If Carlos & Diana lost together:
  → They move down together to Court 2

This maintains team chemistry and creates a true "king of the court" experience where the best pair defends their throne.

Fixed Pairs Variant

There's also a "Fixed Pairs" mode where pairs are set at the start and never change:

• Pair 1: Alice & Bob
• Pair 2: Carlos & Diana
• Pair 3: Eva & Frank
• etc.

The entire pair moves up or down the court hierarchy as a unit.

Handling Bye Rounds

What happens when you have 14 players but space for only 12 per round?

Bye Assignment Algorithm

1. Calculate how many can play: min(players, courts × 4) rounded to multiple of 4
2. Sort players by bye count (fewest byes first)
3. Assign playing spots to those with fewest byes
4. Remaining players get a bye

Example: 14 Players, 3 Courts

• Maximum playable: 3 courts × 4 players = 12
• Bye players: 14 - 12 = 2 players sit out

Round 1:

• Playing: Alice, Bob, Carlos, Diana, Eva, Frank, Grace, Henry, Ivan, Julia, Kevin, Laura
• Bye: Mike (1 bye), Nancy (1 bye)

Round 2:

• Mike and Nancy have priority to play (0 previous byes vs 1 for others)
• Two different players sit out

Bye Scoring

Players on bye receive 1 point (equivalent to a draw) to keep standings fair.

Quick Reference: Which Format to Choose?

Summary

Each format has its own pairing philosophy:

• Americano: Maximize variety by minimizing repeated partnerships
• Mexicano: Group by performance, pair (1+4) vs (2+3) within groups
• Mixin: Pair strong with weak players for balanced total team skill
• King of the Court: Route winners up, losers down, preserve partnerships

Understanding these algorithms helps you appreciate why you're paired with certain players and how the tournament ensures fair, exciting competition for everyone!