What is an Americano?
An Americano is a rotating-partner tournament format where you play for yourself but always in a changing pair. It's the most social, beginner-friendly format around: you partner and face a different mix of players every round, and the highest individual score wins.
- Every round you get a new partner and new opponents on a pre-set schedule, so no one is locked into the same pairing.
- You play in pairs but score as an individual — your points are yours alone, whoever you're partnered with.
- An Americano is finished once everyone has played with and against everyone, which is why it's the go-to format for social mixers and club nights.
- Because partners rotate and levels mix, Americano is great for beginners — one tough pairing never sinks your whole tournament.
Rules of Americano
Americano is a rotating-partner format where you play for yourself but always in a pair. These are the rules of Americano:
- In Americano you compete individually but play in pairs, so your points are yours alone no matter who you partner.
- Partners and opponents change every round on a pre-set schedule, and the tournament normally ends when everyone has played with and against everyone.
- Each match is played to a set number of points — usually 16, 24 or 32. Each team serves 2–4 times, then the serve passes to the opponents.
- After all rounds are played, the player with the most accumulated points across the whole tournament wins.
How do you score in an Americano?
Americano uses point-per-rally scoring that's tallied per player, not per pair — so even though your partner changes every round, your running total keeps building. Instead of games and sets, you bank one point for every rally you win.
- Every round runs to a set number of points — usually 16, 24 or 32 — or to a fixed time of 10–20 minutes.
- A pair serves twice in a row, then the serve hands over to the opponents.
- Every rally won gives one point to the winning team.
- When the round closes, the score is split out to each player individually: in a 24-point match that ends 10–14, players 1 and 2 take 10 points each and players 3 and 4 take 14 points each.
- Your individual points carry over from round to round, so the player with the biggest total after everyone has partnered everyone wins the Americano.
How many players do you need for an Americano?
You can run an Americano with as few as 4 players (or 3 teams in Team Americano), but a count divisible by four keeps every court full and the rotation clean.
- The minimum is 4 players or 3 teams — enough to fill one court and start rotating partners.
- A number divisible by four works best, so 8, 12 or 16 players is the social sweet spot for a club Americano.
- CourtTable schedules individual Americanos for up to 32 players: add courts and everyone keeps rotating with and against each other.
- Plan for 4 players per court in doubles. Prefer singles? Pick a team size of one and the Americano becomes a round robin where every player meets every other once.
How to organize an Americano tournament?
Organizing an Americano is simple: pick the format and team size in CourtTable, add players from your player directory, set your courts and point target, and start. CourtTable draws the rotation so partners and opponents change every round automatically.
- The number of courts you need depends on the number of players — plan for 4 players per court in doubles and 2 in singles.
- Short on courts? Set the courts you actually have and CourtTable spreads the same schedule over more rounds, so everyone still plays the same number of matches.
- Booked for a fixed slot? Cap the number of rounds and the schedule stops there.
- You enter each score as matches finish; CourtTable tracks every player's individual total, and everyone follows the live standings on the tournament's public page or the TV view at the venue.
- A typical Americano lasts about 2 hours, with a 24-point match taking roughly 10 minutes to play. If the level gaps are large, split into separate groups or choose Mexicano so matches stay even.
Americano vs Mexicano: what's the difference?
Both are social, rotating-partner formats scored point-per-rally, but they decide matchups differently. Americano follows a fixed, pre-set schedule so everyone plays with and against everyone; Mexicano builds each round from the live leaderboard.
- In Americano the full schedule is fixed in advance — you'll partner and face everyone exactly as planned.
- In Mexicano the standings drive the draw, so the better you play, the tougher your next opponents become.
- Choose Americano for the most even, social experience across all levels; choose Mexicano when you want skill-based, increasingly competitive matchups.
- If your group's levels vary a lot, Americano split into groups keeps it fun, while Mexicano self-balances the pairings for you.
Team Americano
Americano can also be played in teams. Team Americano works like the individual format, but instead of rotating partners you compete in fixed, predetermined teams — of one or two players — while opponents rotate each round.