Female Tennis Athletes Who Were Featured In Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue

The sporting world of tennis has some of the world's most beautiful and sexiest female tennis athletes. Recently, Sports Illustrated (SI) has round up the female tennis athletes, who have previously graced the magazine's swimsuit issue.

Several female tennis athletes have appeared on the swimsuit issue, although not on the front page.

Steffi Graf

Steffi Graf has appeared in the 1997 issue of SI Swimsuit. She started the trend for female tennis athletes. The shots were staged and taken in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico reportedly photographed by Walter Iooss. The 1997 SI Swimsuit Issue featured model Tyra Banks on the cover.

Serena Williams

Top-ranked athlete Serena Williams, who just won her 18^th Grand Slam title at the 2014 US Open, has posed for SI Swimsuit in 2003. In the same issue, tennis player Tommy Haas also posed with his former girlfriend German model Sandy Meyer Woelden. Serena was also pictured in the 2006 issue of the swimsuit magazine. The cover models for 2003 and 2006 issues were Petra Nemcova and an All-star cast (Veronica Varekova, Elle Macpherson, Rebecca Romjin, Rachel Hunter, Daniela Pestova, Elsa Benitez, Carolyn Murphy, and Yamila Diaz), correspondingly.

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Anna Kournikova

Anna Kournikova have been featured on SI Swimsuit 2004 Issue. In an old interview, Kournikova has confessed that the magazine had been dying to put her on the spread, but she just didn't have time. When Kournikova finally got the time, she was more than willing to flaunt her sexy assets for the world to see. Veronica Varekova was on the cover of the issue where Kournikova was featured.

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Venus Williams

Venus Williams, a former World No. 1, had put on the swimsuit made by Sauvage Swimwear for SI Swimsuit 2005 Issue. The cover of this issue was Carolyn Murphy.

Maria Sharapova

Russian tennis darling Maria Sharapova graced the 2006 issue of SI Swimsuit. The 2006 issue showcased an all-star cast, namely, Veronica Varekova, Elle Macpherson, Rebecca Romjin, Rachel Hunter, Daniela Pestova, Elsa Benitez, Carolyn Murphy, and Yamila Diaz. Heidi Klum was also included in the inset of this issue.

Video courtesy: YouTube/Sports Illustrated Swimsuit

Daniela Hantuchova, Maria Kirilenko, and Tatiana Golovin

Daniel Hantuchova has appeared alongside fellow tennis players Maria Kirilenko and Tatiana Golovin in the 2009 edition of SI Swimsuit. Their photo op was called "Volley of the Dolls." Hantuchova was once quoted saying that the shoot with SI was an exciting experience for her. In this issue, model Bar Rafaeli was on the cover.

Video courtesy: YouTube/Sports Illustrated Swimsuit

Ana Ivanovic

Ana Ivanovic is the last female tennis player to appear on SI Swimsuit. She was featured on the 2010 edition. Ivanovic's appearance on the magazine has reportedly earned a lot of criticisms because shortly after she was featured, her performance on the tennis court deteriorated, which eventually led to her dropping out of the Top 50 in the World Tennis Association's (WTA) world rankings. Currently, Ivanovic is at the 10^th place of the rankings. The cover of this issue was Brooklyn Decker.

Video courtesy: YouTube/Aleksandra Petrovski