Kings Of The Court

That format is usually called a ladder system, court ladder, or King/Queen of the Court/Table format.

There is no well-documented single inventor of it. It is an old, generic sports format used in tennis, padel, table tennis, pickleball, badminton, volleyball, etc. The basic idea is simple: winner moves up toward the “top” table/court, loser moves down, so after a few rounds players naturally end up facing people closer to their level.

Modern ladder descriptions use exactly that logic: winning moves you up, losing moves you down. A “King of the Court” version also uses the rule that winners move up and losers move down between courts/tables.