[2] For her junior year of high school she returned to California and lived with a family in Malibu while she trained under Paul Cohen, who later coached John McEnroe.

[1] At the 1980 US Open she was runner-up to Susan Mascarin in the girls' singles and in the same year made the semi-finals of a WTA Tour tournament in Tampa.

[5] From 1982 she competed professionally and in her first international WTA Tour main draw reached the quarter-finals, at the 1982 Casino Cup in West Germany.

She retired in 1985 aged 22, due to illness and injuries, but regained her desire to compete late in 1986 and made the semi-finals of São Paulo in her first month back.

In 1987 she had her best season on tour, making the semi-finals in Auckland, the round of 16 at the Lipton Championships and appeared in three Grand Slam main draws, to get to a career best 68 in the world.