Tennis-Halep beats heat, Cepelova to advance at U.S. Open

NEW YORK, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Second-seeded Simona Halep of Romania beat the heat by hurrying past Jana Cepelova of Slovakia 6-2 6-1 to reach the third round of the U.S. Open on Wednesday. Halep, who battled back to beat U.S. college champion Danielle Collins in the opening round after losing a first-set tiebreaker, wasted little time as temperatures soared on a hazy day in Flushing Meadows. "I started a little bit too slow, but then I started to be more aggressive and hit the ball," said world number two Halep. "I feel great now that I could win so fast today because it's so hot outside." Halep, the French Open runner-up, will next meet either Shahar Peer of Israel or Croatian Mirjana Lucic-Baroni. (Reporting by Larry Fine; Editing by Frank Pingue)