photo of Ashley Harkleroad on Playboy magazine cover after the jump…

Ashley, 23 the US pro ranked 72 in the world perhaps never really set the tennis court on fire but she sure has made herself noticed by being the first female tennis pro to do a Playboy cover shoot. Although she’s not even close to being the first athlete to go nude for Playboy. There have been a long list of athletes opting for this additional exposure including a few WWE divas and even Olympic athletes.

Ashley said she wanted to do the shoot to show athletic women could be sexy as reports by News.com.au 

“For me, I have a very natural body,” Harkleroad said. “I’m an athlete who is fit and not very big-busted at all.

“I’m proud of that. I wanted to show that female athletes, who are fit and muscular, can have very beautiful bodies just like regular models.”

What does her boyfriend, fellow US tennis pro, Chuck Adams think of her photo shoot? He loved it and he even helped her negotiate the deal with Playboy! Hmmm. Very liberated!

[Harkeroad] She may have been defeated by Serena Williams at the French Open on Sunday, but Ashley Harkleroad claimed a more glamorous coup over her American rival — by appearing on the pages of Playboy magazine.

 ”I thought, well, I’m not really doing anything right now so I thought about it and it was something that I did. I’m proud of my body. I was representing a female athlete’s body.” – UK Reuter