Bracket · Call the draw
Tennis Bracket Pool — the bracket challenge, explained
A tennis bracket pool (also called a bracket challenge) works like the office brackets you know from other sports: everyone predicts the winners before the tournament starts, then the bracket scores itself as real matches finish. On TennisPools the draw is published about three days before play, picks lock at the tournament's first ball, and points double every round — so the champion call matters most. The highest total after the final wins.
Two formats: Quarter Club and Full Draw
The commissioner chooses one format when the pool is created. Both score the same way — points double every round — the difference is how much homework your members get. Quarter Club is 15 picks: name the 8 quarterfinalists, then pick through to the champion. Full Draw is all 127 matches, for the die-hards.
| Quarter Club | Full Draw | |
|---|---|---|
| Total picks | 15 | 127 |
| What you pick | The 8 quarterfinalists — one from each section of the draw — then winners through to the champion | The winner of every match, Round 1 through the final |
| Points per correct pick | 40 per quarterfinalist, then 80 per semifinalist, 160 per finalist, 320 for the champion | 5 in Round 1, doubling every round: 10, 20, 40 (Round of 16), 80 (quarterfinals), 160 (semifinals), 320 (final) |
| Maximum score | 1,280 | 2,240 |
| Time to fill out | About three minutes on a phone — perfect for casual crews | A proper sitting — a one-tap autofill starts you from the favorites, then you flip your upsets |
A neat property of the Full Draw ladder: every round is worth the same 320-point total — 64 Round 1 matches at 5 points each, down to one final worth 320. Nail the early rounds and you bank real points; nail the champion and you swing the whole pool.
The variant · Bracket Scores
Bracket Scores: call the winner and the set score
Bracket Scores is everything a regular bracket pool does, plus one extra call per match: the set score. Men's Grand Slam matches are best of five sets, so the possible scores are 3-0, 3-1, or 3-2. Women's matches are best of three, so it's 2-0 or 2-1.
Get the winner right and you score the round's normal points. Get the exact set score right too and the pick pays half the round's points again — a correct quarterfinal winner worth 80 points becomes 120 with the exact score. One edge case: if a match ends in a retirement or a walkover, the set-score bonus is voided for that match, but your winner points still count in full.
Start a Bracket Scores poolTiebreakers, deadlines, and autofill
The tiebreaker: total games in the final
Along with your picks, you predict the total number of games played in the final — every game in every set, both players combined. If two members finish level on points, the prediction closest to the real total without going over wins the tie.
One submission, before the first ball
The draw for the US Open 2026 is released around August 27 and the first ball is Sunday, August 30 — that window is when you make your picks. Everything locks at the tournament's first match, then it's two weeks of watching the bracket score itself, automatically, match by match.
Autofill for the Full Draw
127 picks sounds like work, so a one-tap autofill starts your bracket from the favorites. From there you just flip the upsets you believe in — most members finish a full bracket in a few minutes.
US Open 2026 · Draw drops ~Aug 27
Get your bracket pool ready
Create the pool now, invite your crew with one link, and picks open the moment the draw is out. Free for pools of up to 5 members; bigger pools pay a one-time $2 per extra member — and TennisPools never takes a cut of your prize pot.
Want something lighter? Try a Survivor pool — one pick per round, last one standing wins.