Irina Shayk: Sexiest bikini covergirl of 2011!

Watch her sizzle in a bikini -- and check out the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit covers of the last decade!

Russian supermodel Irina Shayk, girlfriend of soccer ace Cristiano Ronaldo, is this year's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition cover girl.

Shayk was to be officially announced covergirl on tonight's Late Show With David Letterman, but the news was leaked on Twitter just hours ago, reports News.com.au

New Yorker Rana Wardlaw took a photo of a billboard featuring the cover outside her office and then tweeted.
"I saw it from my office window," Wardlaw said.

"I work at a media agency called Starcom Worldwide. They unveiled the billboard for a few minutes to tape it for the Letterman Show and then covered it back up. I guess they didn't cover it fast enough!"

Shayk beat heavy favourite Brooklyn Decker to the coveted covergirl spot.

Move to the following pages to check out the hotties who've landed the coveted spot in the last decade!

Inputs: ANI

Last year, tennis ace Andy Roddick's supermodel wife Brooklyn was unveiled as the face of the magazine's cover, an honour that she said left her mother in tears.

The Israeli looker and sometime girlfriend of Leonardo DiCaprio made a splash with her curves in 2009.

Victoria's Secret Angel Marisa Miller went topless in 2008, with nothing but a strategically placed necklace to preserve her modesty.

Sports Illustrated gave models a miss that year, with bootylicious singer Beyonce working her charms instead.

The year 2006 saw the magazine have all their supermodel covergirls of past years get together for a fun beach shoot. Seen here from left to right are Veronica Varekova, Elle Macpherson, Rebecca Romijn, Rachel Hunter, Daniela Pestova, Elsa Benitez, Carolyn Murphy and Yamila Diaz.

American hottie Carolyn Murphy graced the SI swimsuit issue for 2005, looking coy in a red two-piece.

Czech stunner Veronica Varekova gave us her seductive best in polka dots and a cheeky bow back in 2004.

Another Czech chicka, Petra Nemcova upped the ante in 2003 in a teeny tiny red bikini.

Amazing Argentine model Yamila Diaz-Rahi also took the red-hot route the previous year.

And finally, we've wound down to the 2001 cover, featuring mesmerising Mexican Elsa Benitez in flaming orange.