Sun, Sand and Anna Kournikova — in a Swimsuit

Feb. 10 -- The much-awaited Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue is due out tomorrow, and millions of readers — mostly men — are unlikely to be disappointed this year.

Featuring a bevy of beautiful models posing in swimsuits at spectacular locations around the world, the swimsuit issue this year starts with tennis player Anna Kournikova on the cover in an itsy-bitsy swimsuit.

In a corner of the cover, a text box reads: "Anna Kournikova may be retired, but she's still the hottest player in tennis."

But in an interview with ABCNEWS' Good Morning America today, the Russian tennis star who reached the Wimbledon semi-finals weeks after her 16th birthday, said she has not retired from the game that shot her to fame.

For Her Looks, If Not Her Game

With her icy blonde good looks and well-tanned, well-toned limbs, Kournikova is one of the best known tennis stars in recent years. But she's been more memorable for her looks than her game.

When she first shot to fame as an exceptionally talented 14-year-old, hopes were high for the rising tennis star. But in a career plagued by injuries, the 23-year-old tennis player has not won a single major tennis tournament.

But if her latest photographs in Sports Illustrated — shot on the sunny beaches of Puerto Rico — are anything to go by, no one's really complaining about her failure to win that Wimbledon.

Twelve Straight Hours in the Sun

Although Kournikova has graced the pages of Sports Illustrated in the past, this is the first year she has appeared as a swimsuit model.

Speaking to ABCNEWS' Diane Sawyer, Kournikova said it was a matter of good timing. "They [Sports Illustrated] have asked me a few times before, but I was playing full time and not able to do it," she said. "Now that I am taking time off, this was perfect."

A recent back injury has kept her off the tennis circuit for about 10 months, but Kournikova said she hopes to back in action by the summer.