A left-handed player from New York, Cranis went to high school in Brooklyn and did not start playing tennis until the late age of 17.

[2] Cranis, who served two years in the army after college, twice made the singles second round of the U.S. national championships.

In 1956, Cranis won the Brooklyn Indoor Championships, defeating George Mandel in the semifinal.

In 1960, Cranis won the Seventh Regiment Armory Invitational indoor in New York City, defeating Sidney Schwartz in the quarterfinal and J. Allen Morris in the final.

[3] In 1971, Cranis won the Eastern Hardcourt Championships in Woodbury, Long Island, N.Y. defeating Don Brosseau in the final.