Rossides, who is of Greek descent, grew up in Washington, D.C. She is the daughter of Eugene T. Rossides, a college football player at Columbia who was drafted by the New York Giants.[1] Her father instead studied for a law degree, serving as Assistant to the Undersecretary of the Treasury in the Eisenhower administration and later Assistant Secretary of the Treasury under President Nixon.[2]
While still in high school, Rossides made her WTA Tour main draw debut at the 1985 Virginia Slims of Washington and came up against Martina Navratilova.[3] The match-up had only come about when Navratilova's original opponent, Andrea Leand, had to withdraw with an allergic reaction from a bee sting.[4]
She competed in the main draw of the 1985 US Open as a qualifier and took up a scholarship that year to attend Stanford University.[5]
At Stanford she was the number one player on a team which won four straight championships during her time there (ultimately six in succession).
After graduating from Stanford she joined the professional tour, competing until 1999.
United States