Henin, last year’s Wimbledon finalist, initially struggled to find her rhythm as she dropped her serve twice in the first set and hit several unforced errors to lose six games in a row.
The local favourite, backed by cheering fans, fought hard to hold her opening service game but then came unstuck as Schnyder took advantage of Henin’s numerous backhand errors to easily wrap up the set.
The turning point for Henin came at breakpoint in the fourth game of the second set when the 23-year-old Swiss lost her temper and slammed her racket to the ground after an apparently wide shot by the Belgian was judged in.
The ruling by British umpire Fiona Edwards seemed to frustrate Schnyder, who also earned a warning for the tantrum, and she lost her way in the remainder of the set.
By the third set, Henin had gotten into her stride and played more aggressively as her trademark backhand slices were once again on target.
The world number nine outplayed Schnyder with her blistering groundstrokes from the baseline and sublime volleys, clinching the match with an ace.
A disappointed Schnyder left the court in anger, pulling off her wristband and throwing it on the floor.
Henin will face the winner of the second semifinal between world number two and U.S. Open champion Venus Williams and French third seed Amelie Mauresmo in Sunday’s final.
Semi-final result: 2-Justine Henin (Belgium) beat Patty Schnyder (Switzerland) 1-6 6-3 6-4
Seles faces Tanasugarn
Top seed Monica Seles of the United States and Thailand’s Tamarine Tanasugarn will clash in the final of the $170,000 WTA Qatar Open after posting contrasting semi-final victories here on Saturday.
Seles, a legend at 28 and winner of 51 titles, overcame a spirited fight from Australia’s Alicia Molik before winning 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-4 and advancing to the final against the 21st ranked Tanasugarn who is still looking for her first singles crown.
Tanasugarn, the fourth seed here and a great admirer of Seles, earlier stopped Janette Husarova of Slovakia 6-0, 7-6 (7/2) to clinch her fifth final appearance.
This will be the second time Tanasugarn and Seles have met in a final, the US superstar having beaten the Thai to the title at the 2001 Japan Open.
Seles had predicted a tough match with Molik and the Australian proved her right.
The 21-year-old Molik showed she was not nervous facing up to the nine-time Grand Slam winner as she often made Seles scamper all over the court with her unrestrained strokeplay.
Despite her vast experience, Seles found herself caught on the wrong foot and, at times in the second set, couldn’t help shaking her head in admiration as the young and powerful Aussie unleashed winners at will. Games went with serve forcing the tie-break in which Molik gave it her all to take the match into the third set.
The concluding set saw Seles recover and break Molik in the third game as the Aussie found her form disintegrate just when it mattered.
Seles sensed this and went all out on the attack, executing some deft volleys and crisp down the line shots.
She had two break points in the ninth game, but Molik fought back to save her serve.
Seles then served out the tenth game to close out the match.
A confident Tanasugarn stamped her authority on her match from the start, breaking Husarova twice to clinch the first set in a matter of minutes.
Ranked 21st in the WTA rankings she was then made to fight all the way in the second by Husarova who broke her in the fifth game only to be broken back in the eighth.
Husarova went all out on the attack, coming up with some sensational shots while on the move as Tanasugarn stuck to the baseline as the next three games went with serve.
The Thai squandered a match point in the 12th game as Husarova forced the tie-break which turned out to be a one-sided affair with Tanasugarn winning five points in a row from 2-2 to clinch the match.
ESCUDE EDGES PIOLINE
Nicolas Escude overcame his nerves to beat fellow Frenchman Cedric Pioline 6-3 7-5 in the semifinals of the Marseille Open on Saturday.
Escude’s break in the second game was the decisive factor of the first set before the match then went with serve until 5-5 in the second set when Escude broke Pioline again to seal victory.
He will meet either defending champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia or another former winner, Thomas Enqvist of Sweden, in the final.
COPENHAGEN ATP
Friday’s quarterfinals results: Magnus Larsson (Swe) bt Jiri Novak (Cze x1) 6-4, 6-0; Olivier Rochus (Bel) bt Rainer Schuttler (Ger x2) 6-4, 2-6, 7-5; Lars Burgsmuller (Ger) bt Cecil Mamiit (USA) 6-3, 6-0; Davide Sanguinetti (Ita x4) bt Christophe Rochus (Bel x8) 6-2, 7-6 (7/2).—Reuters/AFP