Double Elimination - Full Format Walkthrough

Double elimination gives every team two chances. A team is eliminated only after its second loss, making this format ideal when you want competitive balance and more play for everyone. This format works for singles or doubles. In singles, each team is one player. In doubles, each team is a two-player pair.

How the format works

The bracket has two sections: Main Draw and Consolation Bracket.

• Main Draw: Teams that have not lost yet. Every team starts here.

• Consolation Bracket: Teams with one loss.

How teams move through the bracket

• Win in the Main Draw → stay in the Main Draw.

• Lose in the Main Draw → drop to the Consolation Bracket and keep playing.

• Win in the Consolation Bracket → keep advancing in the Consolation Bracket.

• Lose in the Consolation Bracket → eliminated.

How finals work

The Main Draw champion plays the Consolation Bracket champion in the Finals.

If the Consolation Bracket champion wins that match, the system automatically creates a Grand Final. This gives the Main Draw champion a second loss before the tournament ends, since that team hadn't lost twice yet.

For a conceptual overview of the bracket structure, see How double elimination brackets work.

Add players or teams

Before generating the bracket, your event needs players or teams registered.

If Using CourtReserve

Players sync automatically from CourtReserve registrations. To refresh manually:

1. Go to your event

2. Open the Players tab

3. Click the sync button to pull the latest registrations

For detailed syncing steps, see Sync players into an event.

If Not Using CourtReserve

Add players or teams manually or import from a spreadsheet:

1. Go to your event

2. Open the Players tab

3. Click + Add Players to add manually, or import from a spreadsheet

For doubles events, players register as pairs. For singles events, each player registers individually.

Generate the bracket

Generate the bracket after your teams are registered and finalized.

1. Open the bracket view for the division.

2. Tap the Admin button.

3. Select Generate Bracket.

The system builds both the Main Draw and Consolation Bracket in one step.

What happens during generation

• The system creates a bracket with 4, 8, 16, or 32 slots.

• Teams are seeded by DUPR rating when ratings are available. If ratings are missing, teams are placed randomly.

• Byes are added when the field does not fill the bracket.

For more detail on seed order and byes, see How seeding and byes work in bracket formats.

Viewing the bracket

After generation, the bracket opens with Main Draw and Consolation Bracket sections.

• On mobile: Rounds appear as swipeable pages. Tap the round pills at the top (Quarterfinals, Semifinals, Finals, etc.) to jump to a specific round. Pull down to refresh.

• On web: The full bracket tree displays horizontally with connector lines between rounds. Scroll left/right to see all rounds.

Use the button to the right of the Consolation Bracket section to switch to a single scrollable view with both brackets shown together. Tap it again to return to the sectioned view.

Score a match

Score matches from the bracket view. The system advances teams automatically.

1. Tap any match card to open the score dialog.

2. Enter set scores for each team.

3. Confirm the result.

What happens after scoring

• The winner automatically advances to the next match in the correct bracket.

• A Main Draw loss sends that team to the appropriate slot in the Consolation Bracket.

• A Consolation Bracket loss eliminates that team.

You do not need to move teams manually.

For more detail on score entry and validation, see Scoring bracket matches.

Walkovers and forfeits

When a team cannot play, declare a walkover from the score dialog.

1. Open the match card.

2. Select Walkover.

3. Choose which team wins.

The match is marked with an orange Forfeit badge. The winning team advances automatically. No scores need to be entered.

Swap teams

Admins can substitute teams into bracket slots to correct seeding errors or handle last-minute team changes.

1. Open the bracket view.

2. Tap the edit control on the team slot you want to change.

3. Select a replacement team from the list (shows player names and seed info).

The new team swaps into that bracket slot immediately.

Assign courts

Each match card has a status badge that doubles as a court action button.

Courts currently occupied by live matches appear as unavailable when you assign courts.

Player notifications

When you set a match to Live, a push notification is automatically sent to the players: "Your Match is Live! Your match has been called to Court [#]."

For more on court setup and assignment, see Court management in bracket formats.

Auto-assign courts

Enable auto-assign to let the system assign available courts to matches as they become ready.

1. Open the admin menu.

2. Toggle Auto-Assign Courts on.

3. Select which round to start auto-assigning from.

When enabled, the system automatically assigns available courts to ready matches.

Clear the bracket

1. Open the admin menu.

2. Select Clear Knockout Bracket.

3. A red warning dialog confirms:

• ALL bracket matches will be deleted

• ALL scores and results will be lost

• ALL court assignments will be cleared

• This cannot be undone

1. Tap DELETE ENTIRE BRACKET to confirm.

After clearing, you can regenerate a new bracket from scratch.

Print the bracket

Printing is available on web only. Tap the print icon and choose between:

1. Bracket View – Prints the full tournament bracket tree as displayed on screen.

2. Individual Match Cards – Prints scorecards with configurable settings.

What's next

• If your event starts with pool play, see Generating the bracket after pool play.

• For help deciding which matches should go out next, see Managing the match queue in bracket formats.

• To edit scores or results after the fact, see Editing bracket matches.