In 1958, Franks was ranked #7 in the country. in 1959, he won the Pacific Southwest Doubles Title with Barry MacKay, and the Southern California Men's Singles Championships by defeating Alex Olmedo in the Finals, one month before Olmedo won the Wimbledon Championships. In 1961, Franks and Donald Dell were selected by the US State Department to be the first Americans to play tennis in the Russian National Championships. That same year, he received a gold medal by winning the doubles at the 1961 Maccabiah Games in Israel with Dick Savitt, and they remain longtime friends. He again won the Doubles Gold Medal at the 1965 Maccabiah Games with Ronny Goldman.