You have battled to six games each and the set is level at 6-6. So what now? You do not just keep playing games forever. At 6-6 padel switches to a tie-break, a short race to decide the set there and then. It is the tensest and often the most fun part of a match, and it is well worth knowing exactly how it works before you are stood in one.
What the tie-break is
The tie-break is a single deciding game played at 6-6. Instead of the usual 15, 30, 40, you count points as plain numbers: zero, one, two, three and up. The first pair to reach seven points wins the tie-break, and with it the set, which goes down as 7-6.
First to seven, win by two
There is a catch. You have to win by two clear points. Reach seven with a two-point cushion and the set is yours. If it gets to 6-6 inside the tie-break, you carry on until one pair is two points ahead. So a tie-break can finish 7-5, or it can stretch to 9-7, 10-8 or further if both pairs keep trading. There is no golden-point shortcut here, the two-point margin always applies.
Who serves in a tie-break
This is where people get tangled, so here is the pattern slowly.
- The player whose turn it is next in the set's serving order starts. They serve just one point, from the right-hand side.
- Then serve passes to the other team. Those two points are served by the next player in the rotation, the first from the left, the second from the right.
- From then on, every player serves two points in a row, always starting from the left and then the right, working through the same four-player order as the set.
People call this the 1-2-2 pattern: one point, then two, then two, then two, all the way through. It keeps the serve fair so nobody gets a run of easy or awkward ends.
Changing ends every six points
You swap ends of the court every six points, so after the sixth point, the twelfth and so on. This matters more than it sounds, because on an outdoor Manchester court the sun, wind or a slippery end can swing a tight tie-break. Change ends, take your few seconds, and get straight back to it.
How it decides the set
Whoever wins the tie-break takes the set 7-6. If it is the first or second set, you move on to the next one. The team that did not serve the first point of the tie-break serves first in the following set, and each pair can reset which partner serves first, since a new set means a fresh order.
If you want the whole scoring picture rather than just the tie-break, our padel scoring guide walks through points, games and sets from scratch.
FAQ
What happens at 6-6 in padel?
You play a tie-break. It is a single deciding game, first to seven points and win by two, and the winner takes the set 7-6.
Is the tie-break first to seven or first to ten?
First to seven for a normal set tie-break, always win by two. A first-to-ten super tie-break is sometimes used to replace a full third set, but the standard set tie-break is to seven.
Who serves first in a padel tie-break?
The player next in the set's serving order serves one point from the right. After that, each player serves two points in turn, starting from the left, following the same rotation.
When do you change ends in a tie-break?
Every six points, so after the sixth point, twelfth point and so on, until the tie-break is done.