Maria at Home among Supermodels

Maria Sharapova was in New York City for the Valentine's Day launch of the 2006 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition on Tuesday (February 14th). The 19-year old Russian superstar appears in the magazine along with 25 of the world's best well-known supermodels.

It is the ninth year that the famous annual edition has included a figure from the world of sport. Maria Sharapova fit right in on Tuesday night as she posed with some of the world's most glamorous models at the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition launch in New York.

The leggy Russian has made quite a splash in this year's edition having been photographed at the Grace Bay Club in Turks and Caicos by legendary Sports Illustrated photographer Walter Iooss Jr. "It was so fun. So different to anything that I've done before, but I love doing new things. Obviously being in a bikini is very different. You don't have allot to work with, just your body and sand and water. But you know after the first day I got used to it, I was very comfortable and it became very artistic for me." said Maria.

While Maria enjoyed the experience, she said that it was an entertaining diversion and that she is as focused as ever on her tennis game. "Well I think my biggest personality comes out when I'm on centre court. I'm a big competitor. You know I love to compete, that's what I do best. And theses things, I just love to do off court things. I'm sure I'll have other things in my career that I'm going to do after tennis. These are just things that I love to do for fun. This was definitely a new experience that I enjoyed very much."