PAmericano, Mexicano or Mixicano: which format fits your night?
Americano, Mexicano and Mixicano sound alike, but they make for three quite different nights. Here are the differences, and a simple rule for which one to choose.
Americano: the social classic
In Americano you switch partner every round and collect individual points. The rotation is fixed and decided in advance. That makes it predictable, social and easy to run. Choose Americano when the group is mixed, the atmosphere matters most, and you want everyone to play with everyone. Read more in the Americano guide.
A full rotation, where everyone has partnered everyone once, takes n-1 rounds. Eight players means seven rounds. With bigger groups that gets long fast, so most organisers cap it somewhere. PadelLoop defaults to the smaller of n-1 and 12 rounds for exactly that reason.
Mexicano: balanced matches all the way
Mexicano resembles Americano, but here the live standings decide who you face. After each round the matches are set up anew based on the standings: those who are level meet each other. The result is more balanced matches as the night goes on. Whoever is leading gets tougher opposition, and those falling behind meet someone at their level.
Choose Mexicano when the skill level in the group varies widely, and you want to avoid the best players steamrolling the rest. The downside is that the schedule can't be made entirely in advance. It depends on the results along the way. A tool that calculates the next round automatically is therefore almost a must.
How does Mexicano actually pick the matches?
This is where organisers get caught out, because two variants are in circulation and no federation has ruled on either.
Rank everyone by the standings, then take them four at a time. The top four go on court 1, the next four on court 2, and so on down. Inside each group of four, the common variant puts 1 and 4 against 2 and 3. The leader gets the weakest of that group as partner, which evens out the two sides of the net. The other variant, 1 and 3 against 2 and 4, puts players of similar rank together and gives a less even match. PadelLoop uses 1 and 4 against 2 and 3.
Round one has no standings to work from, so it is drawn. From round two the table does the work.
Worth knowing before you start: court 1 is the leaders' court, and people notice when they drop off it. Say out loud what the courts mean, or someone will read court 3 as a demotion.
Mixicano: mixed teams, standings decide
Mixicano is Mexicano with one extra rule: every team is one man and one woman. The partner still changes every round, and the points are still individual. What is fixed is the make-up of each team, not the pairing itself.
That rule sets the entry requirement: the same number of men as women, and a total that divides by four, or the last court can't be formed. It is the constraint most likely to bite when two people cancel an hour before start.
Choose Mixicano when you are running a mixed night and want men and women genuinely mixed through the whole draw instead of clustered in a few teams.
The word also gets used loosely. Some clubs say Mixicano about any mixed night, including ones where couples stay together all evening. If someone hands you a Mixicano invite, ask which they mean. They are different evenings.
Simple table
| Partner | Matches set by | Best for | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Americano | Switches every round | Fixed rotation | Social, mixed group |
| Mexicano | Switches every round | The live standings | Varying skill levels |
| Mixicano | Switches, always man plus woman | The live standings | Mixed nights |
Which should you choose?
- Want it simplest and most social? Americano.
- Does the group have a big skill gap? Mexicano.
- Running a mixed night? Mixicano.
- Do people want to stay in the same pair all evening? None of the three. See further down.
How many players and courts do you need?
All three want a multiple of four, because a court holds four players. Eight players on two courts, 12 on three, 16 on four.
Americano and Mexicano handle numbers that aren't multiples of four perfectly well. The surplus sit out and rotate back in. Nine players on two courts means eight play and one sits, every round. Mixicano is the strict one, because the man and woman rule has to hold on every court at once.
Fewer courts than that also works. More people simply sit out each round, and you need more rounds to give everyone the same amount of play.
What happens when someone has to sit out?
Sit-outs, or byes, cause more grumbling than anything else on a social night. The fix isn't to avoid them, it is to spread them.
The rule that works: whoever has sat out fewest times plays next, and ties go to whoever sat out longest ago. That stops the same two people missing three rounds while someone else plays every one. PadelLoop distributes sit-outs on exactly that rule, fewest sit-outs first, then longest since last.
Announce it before the first serve. "Some of you will sit out a round, it gets spread evenly" costs ten seconds and prevents the whole conversation.
What happens when two players finish level on points?
With individual points and short matches, ties are normal rather than rare. Decide the rule before you start, not once the trophy is on the table.
PadelLoop breaks ties in this order: total points, then point difference, then number of wins, then name alphabetically. Point difference is the useful one. A player who won 24-8 beat someone more convincingly than a player who won 17-15, and in a points format that information is already sitting in your results.
If you want something more theatrical for a final placing, a sudden-death shootout between the tied players is a common club solution. Just say so in advance.
How many points per match, and how long will the night take?
These formats are played to a fixed number of points instead of games and sets. 16, 24 and 32 are the usual choices, and every rally won is a point. The match ends when the total is reached, so a match to 24 can finish 24-0 or 13-11.
For planning, reckon on roughly 10 to 15 minutes for a match to 24 points, plus a couple of minutes to change courts. Six rounds then lands near two hours. Pick the points target from the clock you actually have, not from habit. With 16 players and two hours, shorter matches are what makes the evening work at all.
In PadelLoop the result is entered as one number per team per match, which is all a points format needs.
What if people want to play in fixed pairs?
None of these three do that. Americano, Mexicano and Mixicano all rotate the partner, because individual scoring is the whole point of them.
If your group wants to enter as pairs and stay together, you want a fixed-pairs format instead. There are two, and PadelLoop runs both. A round robin puts every team against every other team, which is the fairest way to find a winner when you have the time for it. Team Mexicano keeps the pairs fixed but lets the standings pick the matchups, so the leaders meet the leaders and nobody spends the night being outclassed. Both are the right answer for club couples, for a declared mixed doubles night, and for everyone who says "we came together, we want to play together".
In short
Americano for the social night. Mexicano when the level varies a lot. Mixicano when the night is mixed. Fixed pairs mean a round robin, not one of these three. Whichever you pick, keep the matches short, spread the sit-outs and agree the tie-break before anyone serves.
Americano and Mexicano can both be set up in under a minute in PadelLoop: choose the format, the number of courts and points, and the tool handles the rotation and the live standings. There's a big screen view you can open on a TV in the hall, and a link that shares the table with the players.
Mixicano is the one gap. Enforcing one man and one woman in every team means the tool would have to know each player's gender, and it does not ask, so it cannot guarantee the rule that defines the format. Run a Mixicano off a sheet, or use Team Mexicano in the tool if you are happy to set the mixed pairs yourself and keep them together all night. If you'd rather run a more formal tournament with games and sets, see the guide on padel points, golden point and star point. For a bigger event, read how to run a padel tournament.
Common questions
What is the difference between Americano and Mexicano in padel?
In Americano the rotation is fixed and decided in advance, so you switch partner every round according to a schedule set before the night starts. In Mexicano the live standings decide who you face: after each round the matches are rebuilt from the table, so players who are level meet each other. Both use individual points. Choose Americano when the group is mixed and the atmosphere matters most, and Mexicano when the skill level varies widely and you want to avoid the best players steamrolling the rest. The trade-off is that a Mexicano schedule cannot be made entirely in advance.
How does Mexicano decide who plays who?
Rank everyone by the standings, then take them four at a time. The top four go on court 1, the next four on court 2, and so on down. Inside each group of four, the common variant puts 1 and 4 against 2 and 3, so the leader gets the weakest of that group as partner, which evens out the two sides of the net. The other variant, 1 and 3 against 2 and 4, puts players of similar rank together and gives a less even match. No federation has ruled on either. Round one has no standings to work from, so it is drawn.
What is Mixicano in padel?
Mixicano is Mexicano with one extra rule: every team is one man and one woman. The partner still changes every round, and the points are still individual. What is fixed is the make-up of each team, not the pairing itself. That rule sets the entry requirement: you need the same number of men as women, and a total that divides by four, or the last court cannot be formed. Be aware that the word gets used loosely. Some clubs say Mixicano about any mixed night, including ones where couples stay together all evening, so ask which one is meant.
How many players and courts do you need for these formats?
All three want a multiple of four, because a court holds four players. Eight players on two courts, 12 on three, 16 on four. Americano and Mexicano handle numbers that are not multiples of four perfectly well: the surplus sit out and rotate back in, so nine players on two courts means eight play and one sits, every round. Mixicano is the strict one, because the man and woman rule has to hold on every court at once. Fewer courts also works, but more people sit out each round and you need more rounds to give everyone the same amount of play.
What happens when someone has to sit out?
Sit-outs, or byes, cause more grumbling than anything else on a social night. The fix is not to avoid them, it is to spread them. The rule that works: whoever has sat out fewest times plays next, and ties go to whoever sat out longest ago. That stops the same two people missing three rounds while someone else plays every one. Announce it before the first serve. Saying that some people will sit out a round and that it gets spread evenly costs ten seconds and prevents the whole conversation later in the evening.
How do you break a tie when two players finish level on points?
With individual points and short matches, ties are normal rather than rare, so decide the rule before you start rather than once the trophy is on the table. A sensible order is total points, then point difference, then number of wins, then name alphabetically. Point difference is the useful one: a player who won 24-8 beat someone more convincingly than a player who won 17-15, and in a points format that information is already sitting in your results. If you want something more theatrical for a final placing, a sudden-death shootout between the tied players is a common club solution.
How many points should each match be played to, and how long will the night take?
These formats are played to a fixed number of points instead of games and sets. 16, 24 and 32 are the usual choices, and every rally won is a point. The match ends when the total is reached, so a match to 24 can finish 24-0 or 13-11. For planning, reckon on roughly 10 to 15 minutes for a match to 24 points, plus a couple of minutes to change courts. Six rounds then lands near two hours. Pick the points target from the clock you actually have, not from habit. With 16 players and two hours, shorter matches are what makes the evening work.
Can you play Americano, Mexicano or Mixicano in fixed pairs?
None of them do that. Americano, Mexicano and Mixicano all rotate the partner, because individual scoring is the whole point of them. Mixicano keeps every team one man and one woman, but the partner still changes each round. If your group wants to enter as pairs and stay together all evening, what you want is a round robin with fixed teams, where every team meets every team and the standings are per team rather than per player. That is the right answer for club couples, for a declared mixed doubles night, and for anyone who came together and wants to play together.