Coric, who had failed to win a match in his last two appearances in Beijing and Shenzhen, saved two break points at 3-3 in the second set and clinched the first four games of the decider to record his 32nd match win of the season.
SSerena Williams swept past Anastasija Sevastova 6-3, 6-0 on Thursday and into the final of the US Open to sit one win away from a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title.
Serena, a six-times champion in New York who is seeded 17th, will start her campaign against Polish world number 60 Magda Linette and could face Venus in the third round before a possible fourth-round showdown with Romanian top seed Halep.
India will host its first WTA tournament in five years when the city of Mumbai stages a $ 125,000 event in November, giving home players an opportunity to compete with the world's top-50.
The 36-year-old has been practising hard on the grass and few would bet against her becoming the first mother to win the title since Evonne Cawley 38 years ago.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Images from Day 5 of the 2021 French Open, in Paris, on Thursday.
A clash of generations will decide the US Open on Saturday with Serena Williams taking a fourth crack at Grand Slam history against teenager Bianca Andreescu, who was not even born when the American lifted her first Flushing Meadows trophy.
The final will pit power against power when Andreescu takes on her childhood hero Williams, who claimed her first US Open title in 1999 before Andreescu was even born.
The World No 2 announced her commitment to the social media entrepreneur shortly before the New Year and while it was "great", she was pushing it to the back of her mind, at least until after Melbourne Park.
Serena Williams and Marin Cilic both survived third round scares on Friday to keep their US Open title defences on track but there was no escape for Rafael Nadal with the twice-winner going down in a late night thriller.
Croatia's Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, who made the third round of the 1997 US Open also at 15, was the previous youngest player to advance to that stage of a grand slam.
Jennifer Brady spent two weeks in hard quarantine gathering mental strength for her tilt at a maiden Grand Slam title and will hope there is plenty in reserve when she takes on Naomi Osaka in Saturday's Australian Open final.
Halep became the first Romanian to reach the summit of the women's rankings when she beat French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in the semi-finals of the China Open in Beijing, a feat she feels is the high point of her career to date.
The imposter who did turn up got dragged into a two hour 11 minute tussle in which she failed to convert 11 of the 12 break points that fell her way.
Images from Day 7 of the 2021 French Open at Roland Garros in Paris on Saturday.
The 20-year-old, looking to become the first unseeded woman to lift the Suzanne Lenglen Cup since 1933, blazed her way to the final, hitting winners and errors with reckless abandon.
The latest tennis rankings have been announced by the ATP and WTA
Tennis already sets the bar with equal prize money paid to women and men at Grand Slam tournaments
Novak Djokovic destroyed a woeful Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-1, 6-2 to book his place in the semi-finals of the Paris Masters.
Images from Day 2 of the 2024 Australian Open in Melbourne on Monday.
Greek teenager Stefanos Tsitsipas secured the biggest win of his career when he sent Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic packing in the third round of the Rogers Cup with a stunning 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3 win on Thursday.
Manchester City and Everton players took to the field wearing Ukrainian flags before their Premier League game on Saturday while there were anti-war messages at stadiums elsewhere following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
World No 1s Andy Murray and Angelique Kerber have been named top seeds for the first major of the season, Australian Open, which will commences on January 16.
A calm Sloane Stephens picked her shots to perfection to overcome Japan's Naomi Osaka in a battle between the last two US Open champions at the WTA Finals on Monday before top seed Angelique Kerber was upset by Kiki Bertens.
Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams are top seeds at the major starting Monday
Angelique Kerber is the world number one in women's tennis yet it remains a title she has yet to grow accustomed to after her meteoric rise to the summit.
IMAGES from matches played on Day 4 of the French Open at Roland Garros on Wednesday
That is Murray's 46th ATP title.
Six-time champion Novak Djokovic's hopes of turning around his season at the Miami Open ended in the second round when he was defeated 6-3, 6-4 by Frenchman Benoit Paire.
World number one Novak Djokovic blasted past qualifier Alexei Popyrin 6-4, 6-2 to reach the second round of the Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo.
Serena Williams weathered an early challenge from Russian Vera Zvonareva before the former World No 2 crumbled to lose 7-5, 6-0 in the second round of the Australian Open on Thursday.
"I think she will win a Grand Slam. Which one and when I don't know, but definitely clay is a good surface for her."
It will be the earliest meeting between the two since their first professional match in the second round of the 1998 Australian Open.
Reigning champions Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams have been named top seeds for the Australian Open starting on Monday.
Nadal faced no break points in a ruthless display to set up a meeting with Canadian Denis Shapovalov.
Venus Williams gained revenge for her Wimbledon final defeat by Garbine Muguruza when the American advanced to the last four of the WTA Finals with a gutsy 7-5 6-4 victory over the Spanish world number two on Thursday.
Images from the third day at the US Open, the final Grand Slam tournament of the year, in New York, on Wednesday:
World number one Naomi Osaka was beaten in her opening match at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Tuesday, losing to France's Kristina Mladenovic 6-3, 6-3 on her return to competitive action after winning last month's Australian Open.
Keys and Stephens to put friendship to grand slam test
