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How to run a Mexicano: draw each round from the standings

A Mexicano is a social doubles format for padel, pickleball, badminton and tennis nights. Round one is a random draw. After that, every round is drawn from the table, so players with similar scores end up on the same court and the night gets closer as it goes. Like an Americano, nobody needs a fixed partner and your own points count towards your own total.

Open the free Mexicano draw (the Mexicano card on the page: enter players, courts and finished games)

A worked example: 8 players, 2 courts

Eight invented players on two courts. Round one is a seeded random draw:

The scores come back as Ben & Gus 21-14 Cy & Fay and Ana & Dee 17-21 Eli & Hal. Each player is credited with their side's points:

Ranked 1 to 8, the table is cut into groups of four. In each group the top player partners the bottom player against the middle two (1 & 4 against 2 & 3). Round two:

Court 1 has the leaders, court 2 the chasers, and nobody repeats a partner. The draw is deterministic for a given seed, and a separate test recomputes this example from the same code the tool runs.

Draw your own round

Questions

How is a Mexicano different from an Americano?

An Americano fixes every pairing in advance so everyone partners as many different people as possible. A Mexicano draws each round after the first from the standings, so players with similar scores meet and the night tightens up as it goes. The tool has both: Build rotation for Americano and Draw next round for Mexicano.

How do you pair a Mexicano round?

Rank the players by points so far and cut the list into groups of four. In each group the top player partners the bottom player against the second and third: 1 & 4 against 2 & 3. If that would repeat a partnership, the tool picks a split that repeats fewer.

Who sits out when the number of players is not a multiple of 4?

Each court needs 4 players, so the extras sit out. The tool sits out whoever has played the most games so far, with a random tie-break, so games stay within one of even.

How do you score a Mexicano?

Each player is credited with the points their side scored in every game, so a strong partner never costs you. Players are ranked by points for, then points difference, then wins. This tool draws the rounds and keeps the table; it is not a rating system.

Related: how an Americano rotation works, how to make a round-robin schedule for team leagues, and how a Swiss tournament works.