How to set up a Mexicano
Everything you need to actually run one — including the adaptive pairings that keep matches close. Takes two minutes to read, or skip straight to the free tool below.
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The 5 setup steps
Get your player list together
You need at least 4 people — there's no upper limit, just more courts (and more rounds) needed for bigger groups. A Mexicano is actually a great pick for mixed-ability groups specifically, since the pairing logic itself works to keep matches fair as the session goes on.
Odd number, like 6, 10 or 14? That's completely normal too — 2 players simply sit out each round on a rotating basis, so everyone gets a fair, roughly equal number of games by the end.
Don't have everyone confirmed yet? You don't need to wait — set the game up in the organiser and get a shareable code without hitting start. Send it round on WhatsApp or let people scan the QR, and they can add themselves to the list if you allow it. It'll sit there ready for up to 48 hours, so there's no rush.
Decide your courts and points-per-round
Work out one court per 4 players playing at once. Then pick a points target for each round — 16, 24 or 32 are all common, based on how many serves each player gets (4, 6 or 8 each).
- Shorter target (16 pts) — quicker rounds, more of them fit into your session, and the pairings adapt more often.
- Longer target (32 pts) — fewer, more decisive rounds.
Not sure? 16 points is the easiest starting point if your group is new to the format.
Work out how many rounds you'll fit
As a rough guide, a single round to 16 points usually takes around 10–12 minutes including the changeover between rounds. That means:
- A 60-minute booking usually fits around 5 rounds per court.
- A 90-minute booking usually fits around 7–8 rounds per court.
Treat this as a ballpark — every group's pace is different. If you use the free organiser above, tell it how long the court's booked for and it'll give you a live estimate based on your actual player count and courts.
Running more than one court with different booking lengths — say Court 1 for the full 90 minutes but Court 2 only free for the last hour? The organiser handles that too: give each court its own time (and, if one opens later than the others, how many minutes in), and it'll stop generating rounds for a court once its own time is used up, automatically folding those players into the sit-out rotation on whichever courts are still going.
Play round 1 random, then let the scores decide
Round 1 is randomised, same as an Americano — there's no score data yet to base pairings on. Get scores from each court once the round finishes and note them down.
From round 2 onward, this is where a Mexicano differs: rank all players by their running total, then on each court pair the strongest remaining player with the weakest, against the two players in the middle of that group. Doing this by hand across multiple courts gets fiddly fast — it's exactly what the free organiser automates for you every round.
Repeat, track the total, and share it
Keep re-ranking and re-pairing every round as the running totals shift. That running total — not who "won" any single round — is what decides the final leaderboard. Whoever's on top at the end wins the Mexicano.
The free organiser's leaderboard also quietly tracks how many rounds each player's actually won and how many they've played, right alongside their points — handy for settling "who's on the best run" arguments without doing the counting yourself.
Once you're done, share the final standings with the group — a quick WhatsApp message or screenshot is usually enough. Playing with the same social group again? Save today's results to a group leaderboard instead — it keeps a leaderboard of your last 10 games, no account needed.
Before you start another game, tap any player on the results screen for their insights from the game — their best partner, the toughest pair they faced, their biggest loss and more. If some players had to sit out, you can opt in when setting up the game to credit each missed round at that player's own average (or half points), so a strong player who sat out isn't penalised. Save to a group leaderboard and the insights grow to cover form over time and best partnerships across your last 10 games.
Send your group the player guide
A two-minute guide to how the session works, with a ready-made WhatsApp message for the date, venue and live game code.
Open the player guide →After the game: leaderboards, insights & your group link
Everything below is optional, free and needs no account for you or your players. Here's how it works from the organiser's side — and what your players see.
Save it to a group leaderboard
On the results screen, tap Save to a group leaderboard (or pick one while you set the game up). Start a new leaderboard for your group, or type in the 6-character code of one you already have. The leaderboard keeps your group's last 10 games, shows a podium, and ranks everyone by the average share of points they won — so it stays fair if some people play more games than others. Anyone with the code or link can view it. See an example.
How the standings are ranked
Standings are ranked on total points. If two players are level, the one who won more games ranks higher; if that's level too, the better point difference (points scored minus points conceded) decides, and only then do they share a rank. If some players will sit out a round, the setup screen asks whether to give credit for missed rounds. It's off unless you tick it. If you do, each missed round counts as that player's own average (so a strong player who sat out isn't penalised) or as half the points available.
Player insights (you switch them on)
When you save, there's a single box, unticked by default: “Also record who played who and switch on player insights for this group”. Tick it and the leaderboard remembers each round's partners, opponents and scores, and your group can tap any player to see their form over time, best partner, toughest pair to face, biggest loss and more, plus a luck of the draw check (how strong your partners and opponents were compared with everyone else, so a kind or unlucky draw is easy to spot) and a game history listing every match you played in each tournament, with your partner, your opponents and the score. Leave it unticked and nothing beyond the final standings is saved. Because anyone with your group's link can see each player's insights, tell your group before you tick it.
Anyone can be left out
If a player would rather not be included, tap their name in the list that appears when you tick the box — or later from the leaderboard page. They get no insights and their recorded matches are deleted straight away; they still appear on the points table, which only shows a name and totals. You can put them back at any time.
Charts: see progress over time
On the results screen, tap How the game unfolded for a line chart of everyone's score round by round, or switch to bars to see the standings after any round. With player insights switched on, the group leaderboard page adds Progress over time: a line for each player's share of points won across your last 10 games, and ranked bars for any single game. Tap a name to show or hide their line. Anyone left out of insights isn't shown.
Insights without a group
You don't need a group for a quick look: tap any player on the results screen for their insights from the game you just played — best partner, toughest pair, biggest loss. Nothing is saved anywhere.
Keep your group link safe
The code is the only way back to your leaderboard. After saving, tap Email me my link to send the link and code to yourself. Your address is only used to send that message. Tick the optional box and you'll also get the odd update when new features land, plus a free printable score sheet.
Setting up an Americano instead?
Same idea, but partners shuffle randomly instead of adapting to score — here's exactly how to run one.
How to Set Up an Americano →Setup FAQ
How do I re-pair players by rank each round?
Rank everyone by their running total after each round, then on each court pair the strongest remaining player with the weakest, against the two players in the middle of that group. It's easy to get wrong by hand once you have more than one court — the free organiser works this out automatically every round.
What if two players are tied on score?
It's a minor edge case — just break the tie arbitrarily (or alphabetically, or by who scored it first) and carry on. It won't meaningfully affect how fair the rest of the session plays out.
What if I have an odd number of players?
Two players sit out each round on a rotating basis, same as an Americano. The free organiser balances the sit-outs and works out the adaptive pairings together automatically.
Do I need to download anything or make an account?
No. PadelSideQuest's Mexicano organiser runs in your phone's browser — no app to install and no sign-up required.
Can more than one person update the scores?
Yes — the organiser can share a short code with the group. Anyone with the code can follow the game live, and the organiser can allow others to add players or enter scores too, so it doesn't all fall on one person.
Can I set up the game before everyone's arrived?
Yes — add your players and settings, then get a shareable code without hitting start. It sits there for up to 48 hours from the last change, so you can send the code round in advance, let people add themselves if you allow it, and start whenever everyone's actually on court.
Does the tournament end automatically when the timer runs out?
No — running out of time never forces you into the results. You keep full control: once every court's booked time is used up, the organiser just stops offering a "start next round" button and tells you so, but you can still finish scoring the round in progress and hit "End & see results" whenever you're actually ready.
Can I stop, restart, or reset the court-time countdown?
Yes — once it's running, a "Reset timer" button appears next to it. Tap it to stop the countdown and put it back to its not-started state, then hit "Start timer" again whenever you actually want the clock counting down from. Handy if it got started by mistake, or play paused for a while.
Do my players need to sign up for the group leaderboard or insights?
No. Nobody needs an account. The organiser saves the game to a group leaderboard, and the group views it with a 6-character code or link. Player insights only appear if the organiser ticks the box when saving, and every player can ask to be left out.
What happens to the data saved to a group leaderboard?
The leaderboard keeps only your group's last 10 games, and the match details behind player insights (if you chose to record them) are kept for up to 12 months. A group nobody has added a game to in 12 months is deleted. Players can be left out of insights at any time, which deletes their recorded matches straight away.
You don't need to run the maths yourself
Adaptive pairings, sit-outs, running totals — our free organiser handles all of it, live, from any phone on court 🩷