Every tournament format, explained in plain language

Format is the single biggest decision an organiser makes. Get it right and the day flows. Get it wrong and half your players are sitting on a bench at 4pm wondering why they came. Here are the five that matter.

Americano

Partners rotate every round, and points are scored individually rather than by pair. You play a fixed number of points — often 16, 21 or 24 — and whatever you win goes on your personal tally.

It is the friendliest format there is. Nobody gets stuck with a partner they clash with, everyone plays the same amount, and levels mix without anyone feeling carried or held back. If you are running a social afternoon or a club mixer, start here.

Best for

Mixed levels, new groups, corporate days, anything where the point is to have fun and meet people.

Mexicano

The competitive cousin of the Americano. After each round, the software re-sorts everyone by their current score and builds the next round from that ranking — first plays with fourth against second and third, and so on.

The effect is that you naturally drift towards people at your level as the day goes on. The last round is usually the best match of the day, because the top four have found each other. It is more work to run by hand and almost trivial with software.

Round robin

Fixed pairs, everyone plays everyone. The cleanest possible table and the fairest possible result — with one catch: the number of matches grows fast. Four pairs is six matches. Eight pairs is twenty-eight.

Perfect for a small league that runs over several weeks. Difficult for a single afternoon unless you keep the field tiny or the matches very short.

Groups plus knockout

The classic club tournament, and the format most real competitions use. Everyone gets a group of three or four pairs, so nobody drives across town to lose one match and go home. The top finishers from each group go into a knockout bracket, and you get a proper final with something on the line.

Straight knockout

One loss and you are out. It is the fastest way to find a winner and the least fun way to spend a Saturday if you lose in round one. Use it when the field is large, the schedule is tight, or the event is genuinely a championship.

So which one?

• Social day, mixed levels — Americano.
• Social but competitive — Mexicano. More on the difference in Americano vs Mexicano.
• Club tournament with a champion — groups plus knockout.
• A league over several weeks — round robin.
• Big field, one day, a real title — knockout with a consolation draw.

The group, round-robin and knockout formats all run on Cups Creator with the same setup flow, so if you change your mind on the day, you can. Working out the timings is the other half of the job — that is covered in how many players, courts and hours you actually need.