Canadian doubles, king of the court, and small-group formats

Canadian doubles is tennis with three players: one against two. The pair's shots have to land inside the singles lines, while the lone player can hit anywhere in the doubles court, alleys included. Swap who plays alone every set.

Canadian doubles rules for three players

The court does the handicapping. The two-player side must keep the ball inside the singles court — 27 feet wide — while the singleton can use the full 36-foot doubles court. A ball the pair hits into an alley is out; the same ball from the singleton is good. One player defends 27 feet, two defend 36 feet between them, and nobody has to spot anybody points.

That assignment is a convention, not a rule from the book — Canadian doubles tennis appears nowhere in the ITF rules. If the solo player is clearly the strongest, flip it: confine the singleton to the singles court and open the alleys to the pair.

Serving and rotating the singleton

The simplest order alternates by side, so the singleton serves every other game and the partners take turns covering their side's service games. The solo player then serves twice as many games as either partner — fine for a quick set, heavy over two hours. The alternative is a three-way rotation where each player serves in turn and the pair occasionally serves two games running.

Change the singleton at the end of each set, or every four games if your sets run long, and say which before the first point. Scoring is ordinary tennis, with advantage or no-ad agreed in advance. Tactically the pair wins at the net and the singleton wins by moving them: two players side by side cover the middle well and the alleys badly, which is exactly where only one of the three may hit.

Australian doubles means two different things

In the formation sense, the server's partner stands on the same side of the center service line as the server instead of crosscourt. The receiver's crosscourt return — usually their most comfortable ball — is covered before the serve lands, so they have to go down the line or lob, and the server slides across to the open half as the ball leaves the strings. The I-formation is the tighter cousin: the net player crouches astride the center service line and signals which way they'll break. Nothing in the rules of doubles restricts where the server's partner stands.

In the other sense, some clubs use Australian doubles tennis as the name for the three-player game and mean what everyone else calls Canadian doubles. Ask which one is meant before you set up.

King of the court rotations for four to eight players

King of the court absorbs four to eight players on one court. Name one end the king's end: one player holds it, everyone else lines up behind the opposite baseline.

The challenger serves, one serve only — second serves turn the rotation into a queue. Whoever wins the point takes the king's end; the loser walks to the back of the line while the next challenger steps on and serves.

Count only the points a player wins while standing at the king's end, and run the session on a timer — 10 to 15 minutes is typical — or race to a target such as seven points. One useful variant dethrones the king automatically after three straight defenses, which stops one player parking there all evening. With six to eight, run king of the court tennis as doubles — the winning pair holds the end, the losing pair splits, and both rejoin the line separately so partnerships never repeat.

A tennis round robin format for four, five, or six

Fix the partnerships in advance so nobody negotiates them at the net. Write the rounds down before the first ball.

Four players, three rounds: 1+2 v 3+4, then 1+3 v 2+4, then 1+4 v 2+3. Everyone partners everyone once and opposes everyone twice.

Five players, five rounds, one sitting each round: 1+2 v 3+4, then 5+1 v 2+3, then 4+5 v 1+3, then 2+4 v 3+5, then 1+4 v 2+5. Each player sits exactly once and partners each of the other four exactly once.

Six players, three rounds, two sitting: 1+2 v 3+4, then 5+6 v 1+3, then 2+5 v 4+6. Everyone sits once per cycle, then redraw the numbers.

Run each round to first-to-four games, or on a ten-minute timer so two courts stay in sync. Rank players by total games won rather than rounds won — it rewards playing well in a loss and ends the "we only lost because of my partner" conversation. With more time, a Fast4 set or a pro set per round works.

Running totals are where these evenings fall apart — everyone remembers their own games, nobody remembers the round they sat out. Tennis Scoreboard is a tennis scoreboard app for iPhone and Apple Watch that tracks match scores, which is enough to settle the tally at the end of the night.

Which format fits your headcount

Players	Format	How the score is kept	How players rotate
3	Canadian doubles	Normal games and sets, one v two	New singleton each set
4	Round robin, 3 rounds	Total games won per player	Fixed pairings, written down first
4–6	King of the court, singles	Points won at the king's end	Loser to the back of the line, every point
5	Round robin, 5 rounds	Total games won, one sits per round	Sit-out follows a fixed order
6–8	King of the court, doubles	Points won at the king's end	Losing pair splits and re-queues

FAQ

How do you play tennis with three people?

Play Canadian doubles: one player alone, two on the other side. The pair must land the ball inside the singles lines; the solo player gets the whole doubles court, both alleys included. Score it as a normal set and rotate the singleton when the set ends.

Is Canadian doubles the same as Australian doubles?

Usually not. Australian doubles most often means a serving formation with the server's partner on the same side as the server. Some clubs do use the name for the three-player game, so confirm which is meant before play starts.

What can two players do when nobody else shows up?

Good tennis drills for two players keep both people hitting: crosscourt-only games to 11 with the alleys live, half-court singles inside one diagonal, and a volley game from the service lines to 21.

How long should each round of a round robin be?

First to four games runs roughly 20 to 25 minutes with a short break between rounds, which fits five rounds into about two hours. A ten-minute timer suits multiple courts because every round finishes together, and a part-played game counts for whoever leads.