Brooklyn Decker adorns SI Swimsuit cover

The magazine, which was out today, features Decker on its cover, flaunting her tanned body in a yellow bikini.

Though her sports-star husband, with his huge following of female fans, usually grabs all the limelight, Brooklyn Decker was the cynosure of all eyes on Monday night. On ‘The Late Show With David Letterman,’ Decker was unveiled as the cover girl of Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Issue.

News of a lifetime
The supermodel was thrilled on learning about her spot on the magazine’s front. The 22-year-old is a five-year veteran of Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Issue but a place on the cover got her visibly excited.

It is “the news of a lifetime,” she said.

Following a fake alarm in which Letterman pointed to a false billboard of an unclothed Scott Brown (in accordance with the senator's vintage nude spread in Cosmo), he revealed the real SI billboard in Times Square to expose Decker, standing half in water, and posing with her perfect body in a yellow bikini.

The cover shows Decker smiling with her arms folded in front of her chest, with the bikini top casually rested on her left shoulder. According to Decker, the shot is a different approach from the sultry look that Sports Illustrated had opted in the past few years.

Roddick impressed with SI pictures
Decker has been married to tennis icon Andy Roddick since last April. She caught Roddick’s attention in Sports Illustrated's 2007 issue. They met subsequently and the relationship culminated in marriage.

The revelation of the 2010 cover of Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit had everybody congratulating the model, who immediately took to Twitter to express her appreciation.

"THANK YOU EVERYONE!!! I Wish I could respond to every single one of you but thank you so much for your AMAZINGLY sweet tweets!" she wrote on the microblogging site.

Secret cover
But why was she thrilled to see herself on the cover? Didn’t she know she’d be gracing the front? Well, no. Sports Illustrated has this tradition of keeping the cover face under wraps. Not even the models are told about the cover girl in advance. So, like the rest of us, Decker decorating the cover was news for herself.

So, what got her there? "I still don't know the formula for the cover," says Decker. "It's luck, the perfect suit and perfect storm to get it."

Kathy Ireland, Heidi Klum, Cheryl Tiegs, Elle MacPherson and Tyra Banks are among the celebrities who have been on the cover in the past.

The magazine’s 47th edition hits the newsstands Tuesday. It features many world-class athletes, including U.S. Olympians Lindsey Vonn and Hannah Teeter, and a couple of people from ABC's Dancing With the Stars.