Thu Oct 18 17:05:34 2007

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Henin strolls into Zurich QFs

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Zurich, Switzerland (Sports Network) - World No. 1 star Justine Henin was an easy second-round winner Thursday at the $1.34 million Zurich Open.

The reigning U.S. and French Open titlist Henin drilled Russian Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 6-1 on Day 4 at Hallenstadion.

The seven-time major champion Henin, who captured this Swiss event in 2003, is now riding a 17-match winning streak, with her last loss coming against France's Marion Bartoli in the Wimbledon semifinals in July.

The Belgian Henin's quarterfinal opponent on Friday will be Polish lucky-loser Agnieszka Radwanska, who toppled last year's Zurich runner-up Daniela Hantuchova 6-3, 6-3. Hantuchova headed into Thursday's match battling a cold.

"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."

The Slovakian Hantuchova, seeded seventh this week, lost to Russian Maria Sharapova in last year's Zurich finale.

Second-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova escaped her second-round match with a 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 decision against solid Austrian Sybille Bammer. The U.S. Open runner-up Kuznetsova will meet Italian Francesca Schiavone here on Friday.

Schiavone disappointed the home crowd by overcoming Swiss favorite Patty Schnyder 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. Schnyder captured the Zurich title in 2002 and was the runner-up here in 2005.

The other quarters will pit the ninth-seeded Wimbledon runner-up Bartoli against France's Tatiana Golovin and Czech Nicole Vaidisova versus Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko. The surging Golovin has won 13 of her last 15 matches, including a title in Slovenia last month and a runner-up finish against the great Henin in Stuttgart two weeks ago.

The 2007 Zurich titlist will take home $182,000.