Padel Rules: How Scoring Works

Padel is doubles on a glass-walled court, and the scoring is almost identical to tennis. People still get lost, though. There are several ways to settle deuce, and your local club often scores differently from the pro tour. Everything below comes from the official rules of the International Padel Federation (FIP), in force since 1 January 2026.

Points, games and sets

Points go 15, 30, 40, game. Win four points and the game is yours, unless it reaches deuce first. Three points each is deuce, or 40-40.

The first pair to six games with a two-game lead wins the set. At 5-5 you play two more games, so a set can finish 7-5. At 6-6 you play a tiebreak. A match is best of three sets: win two and it is over.

Deuce: advantage, golden point or star point

At 40-40 the FIP rules give you three options.

• Advantage: from deuce you need two points in a row. The first gives you advantage, the second wins the game. Lose the advantage point and you are back at deuce.
• Golden point: at 40-40 you play a single deciding point. Win it and the game is yours. Clubs use it a lot.
• Star point: from the first deuce you play at most two advantages, then one deciding point. The pro tours have played it since 2026. We go through it in detail in our article on the star point in padel.

For both the golden point and the star point, the receiving pair picks the side. In mixed doubles, the receiver is the player of the same sex as the server.

Tiebreak

At 6-6 in games you play a tiebreak. Points are counted the normal way: 0, 1, 2, 3 and so on. The first pair to seven points with a two-point lead wins it, and there is no cap. The set then ends 7-6.

Serving in a tiebreak has its own rhythm. The pair that serves first serves a single point, from the right. Then the opponents serve two points, the first pair serves two, and you keep alternating like that. You change ends every six points.

Super tiebreak instead of a third set

FIP also allows a few alternative scoring methods. One is the super tiebreak to 10 points, won by two, played instead of the third set when the match stands at one set all. Others are a tiebreak to 7 in place of the third set, or a shortened "mini set" to four games. And if you agree beforehand, the third set can be played without a tiebreak, until one pair leads by two games.

Serve and changing ends

Every point starts with a serve, and you get two attempts. You serve diagonally, starting from the right. The ball has to bounce before you hit it, you make contact at waist height or lower, and at least one foot stays on the ground. Two faults in a row and the point is gone.

Before each set the pair decides who serves first, and that order does not change during the set. You change ends after the first game, after the third and then after every odd game.

Disputed situations

• The ball bounces and then hits the glass. Play on. You just have to return it before it bounces a second time.
• The ball bounces on your opponents' side and then comes off their wall or fence. They may return it and play continues. Your shot also counts if the ball hits your own wall and then crosses the net onto their side.
• Touching the net. If your racket, body or clothing touches the net, a post or the tensioning cable during play, you lose the point.
• Ball out of the court. You may only play from outside the court where the organiser allows it. A ball that bounces and then leaves the court over the back wall costs the point to the pair on whose side it bounced.
• Double hit or dropped racket. Both are faults and you lose the point.

Americano and Mexicano

Americano and Mexicano are not FIP rules. They are social formats for tournament nights, and every organiser tweaks them a little, so here is the usual version.

In Americano you change partners every round according to a fixed schedule. Every point your pair wins also counts for you personally, and the player with the highest total wins the night. In Mexicano the first round is drawn and each later round is built from the current standings, so you end up playing people of a similar level.

The DOTTA app runs both formats, with a default match length of 24 points. You can also pick 16 or 32 points, or play on time. Points are personal: if a match ends 14-10, both winners take 14 and both losers take 10. Standings go by points, then wins, then point difference. You add a point by clicking the DOTTA remote on your racket.

Tennis uses the same basic count, see the rules of tennis.