ZURICH, Switzerland -- Justine Henin eased into the quarterfinals of the Zurich Open on Thursday with a 6-3, 6-1 victory against Vera Zvonareva of Russia.
Second-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia also advanced, surviving a first-set scare before defeating Austrian Sybille Bammer 2-6, 6-4, 7-5.
Playing in her first match of the tournament, Henin needed time to adjust; she committed four double faults in the opening set.
The top-ranked Belgian broke Zvonareva early but allowed the Russian to immediately recover her serve in the following game. Henin made the decisive break at 3-3 when Zvonareva hit the ball long, and then broke again at 5-3.
In the second set, Zvonareva was only able to hold her opening serve. At 2-1, Henin built up three break points but needed only one, taking the game with a cross-court forehand winner. She broke twice more to close out the match.
"It was tough for me at the beginning of the match to find a good rhythm. I needed to get used to the conditions," Henin said. "But at 5-3 and then the second set I started to play better."
Henin next will face Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, who upset seventh-seeded Daniela Hantuchova 6-3, 6-3.
Hantuchova said a cold and nasal congestion contributed to the defeat, which badly damaged her chances of qualifying for the season-ending WTA Championships in Madrid, Spain, on Nov. 6-11.
"I had a really hard time today trying to catch my breath in between points," Hantuchova said. "I have been fighting a cold for the past few days and I really just had nothing left and became very tired out there."
It was the first time the pair met on court.
"For sure this is a huge success for me to be in the quarterfinals of a tournament like this," said Radwanska, ranked 31st.
Hantuchova was the fifth of the tournament's eight seeded players to be eliminated.
Wednesday saw the elimination of third-seeded Jelena Jankovic and fifth-seeded Ana Ivanovic, both of Serbia, as well as 2006 Australian Open and Wimbledon champion Amelie Mauresmo, seeded eighth. Sixth-seeded Serena Williams withdrew with a sore thigh on Tuesday.
