Started playing at age nine. Turned pro in 1986 after outstanding collegiate career at the University of Southern California. He was a three-time All-American from 1983-85. He first represented his native Mexico in Davis Cup in 1980 when he took on the U.S. in a first round tie at Carlsbad, Calif. He lost his singles matches against McEnroe and Rosco Tanner, but impressed everyone as a star for the future.

He reached his first Grand Prix quarter-final in 1987 at Scottsdale as he upset Tim Mayotte 6-4, 6-3 in the second round. In February 1988, he reached the semi-finals at Philadelphia. He teamed with ex-college mate Todd Witsken to reach eight doubles title matches in 1988, winning three. The duo qualified for the Masters in 1988-89. Compiled a 15-16 match record and earned a career-high $212,388 in 1988, while finishing No. 62 on the ATP computer rankings, a year-end best. Made big improvement on ATP rankings from 1985-88 (493 in 1985, 391 in 1988, 107 in 1987 and 62 in 1988).