Mexicano padel: how the format works, with a worked example

A Mexicano is an individual tournament for four or more players. Only the first round is drawn in advance, either at random or seeded from your list with the strongest players first. From then on the standings decide: the top four players share court 1, the next four court 2, and so on down the courts.

As in an Americano, matches are played to a fixed number of points and each player is credited with their own pair’s score. The player with the most points at the end wins.

Mexicano works best for groups where levels vary but everyone wants a real match. Strong players end up together on the top court and newer players get competitive games further down, instead of lopsided 20–4 results. It is a favourite for regular club nights and for groups who find Americano a little too random.

Because each round needs the results of the previous one, Mexicano asks a bit more of the organizer: scores have to come in promptly. If that is hard at your venue, an Americano with its fixed schedule is easier to run.

After each round the players are ranked by points. The ranking is cut into groups of four, one group per court, with the top group on court 1. On each court 1st and 4th play against 2nd and 3rd. That gives the most balanced match on paper, since the strongest player gets the weakest partner in the group.

The app also makes sure you don’t get the same partner two rounds in a row. If the usual split would repeat a partnership from the previous round, it uses 1st and 3rd against 2nd and 4th instead, or failing that the split with the fewest repeats.

Ties in the standings are broken by wins (a draw counts as half) and then by point difference. Scores can be corrected at any time. If an earlier score changes after the next round has been drawn, the app flags that round and offers to redraw it, as long as it hasn’t started.

Eight players, two courts, matches to 24 points. Round 1 is drawn at random:

• Court 1: Anna & Ben beat Carla & David 16–8
• Court 2: Emma & Filip beat Gina & Hugo 14–10

The ranking after round 1 is Anna and Ben (16 points), Emma and Filip (14), Gina and Hugo (10) and Carla and David (8). Round 2 puts the top four on court 1 and the bottom four on court 2.

On court 1 the standard split, 1st & 4th against 2nd & 3rd, gives Anna & Filip against Ben & Emma. Nobody repeats a partner, so that is the match. Court 2 becomes Gina & David against Hugo & Carla.

If Gina and David then win 15–9, Gina climbs to 25 points and can jump up to court 1 for round 3, while a player who had a poor round on court 1 drops down. That constant movement is what keeps the matches even.

There is no fixed number of rounds. Six to eight is typical for a two-hour session; the app suggests seven and lets you change it, or play open-ended and draw rounds until you decide to finish.

With matches to 24 points, plan about 15 minutes per round including the draw and changing courts, so seven rounds take about 1 h 45 min. Each round waits for the previous one to finish, so the slowest court sets the pace. A round timer or a lower points total such as 16 or 21 keeps the session on schedule.

A Mexicano runs best when results flow quickly:

• Use a seeded first round if you know the levels. Put the players in order with the strongest first, and round 1 already looks like round 3 would.
• Collect scores as soon as each match ends. The next round can only be drawn when every match in the current round has a score.
• Share the live link or QR code so players see their next court the moment the round is drawn.
• Announce the final round in advance. Players love knowing that the last match on court 1 can decide the winner.
• With 9 to 11 players on two courts, some players rest each round. The app rests whoever has played the most, so nobody rests twice before everyone has rested once.

Popular twists on the standard Mexicano:

• Pairing 1st & 3rd against 2nd & 4th, which gives the leader a stronger partner and makes court 1 more of a fight.
• Mixed Mexicano: men and women are ranked separately and every pair is one man and one woman.
• Team Mexicano: the same idea with fixed pairs.
• Open-ended Mexicano: keep drawing rounds until the court time runs out.
• King of the Court: winners move up a court instead of everyone being redrawn from the standings.