Hantuchova had earlier come back from a set and 1-4 down against Hingis to stun the Swiss in the following two sets and set up a clash with Kuznetsova of Russia.
Henin, meanwhile, will consider herself lucky to get past Schnyder after three net cords in the deciding set went in her favor at crucial times. After Schnyder secured a break in the third game to lead 2-1, Henin hit back with a break of her own with the help of a lucky net cord at deuce.
Although the Swiss broke again to lead 3-2 and then held serve to stretch the lead to 4-2, the Belgian held her serve in the next game.
The next two games also went with serve and at 5-4, Schnyder, serving for the match, held match point at 40-30 before slamming the ball into the net much to her frustration. Henin took one more point and held advantage with a net cord again coming to her aid as she leveled at 5-5.
The Belgian showed renewed purpose in the next game, and finished off the match with the ball again clipping the net and dropping tantalisingly in as the Swiss left-hander watched in dismay from the far end of the court.
Henin said she had expected a tough match, but admitted she rode her luck in the tight third set.
Blake returns
Top-seeded James Blake was given a quarter-final spot in the Tennis Channel Open on Thursday night, hours after the ATP Tour initially ruled that he had been eliminated during round-robin play.
Blake led Juan Martin del Potro 6-3, 3-1 when the Argentine player retired because of respiratory distress. In letting Blake back into the tournament, the tour ruled that he would have won his round-robin group if del Potro hadn't retired. The tour also said it would review the format in three weeks at a board meeting in Miami.
In the late match, Russia's Marat Safin dropped the first three games of the third set in round-robin play, but rallied to beat countryman Igor Kunitsyn 4-6, 7-6 (4), 7-5 to win his group and advance to the quarter-finals.
RSS