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(February 9, 2010) Brooklyn brings a much-needed dose of dazzling summer to the winter chill gripping much of the country this week.

Brooklyn Decker, the 22-year-old model wife of Andy Roddick, graces the cover of the annual Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.

Wearing a yellow bikini, its top draped over her left shoulder, a smiling Decker stands in thigh-high water on the cover that recalls vintage SI swimsuit issue covers from the past when models ranging from Cheryl Tiegs to Elle Macpherson brought a fun, sun-loving feel to the cover. Decker's cover shot was tkaen in the Maldvies by famed photographer Walter Iioss, who shot Macpherson and Rachel Hunter for past SI covers.

"YAYYYY!!!!!!! Great news!! I'M THE LUCKY LADY THAT GOT THE COVER OF THE SI SWIMSUIT EDITION!!!" Decker posted on her Facebook page. "I can't explain how happy I am!! I'm going to try to get a few copies autographed by all the girls so I can give them out to you on here! Thank you everyone a million times for the support!"

The cover was revealed during Monday night's Late Show With David Letterman as a billboard bearing the cover shot was unveiled on 53rd Street and Broadway. Decker is scheduled to appear on Letterman's show tonight.

The prestigious cover place came as a bit of surprise to Decker herself as Sports Illustrated keeps the identity of its cover model a secret until less than 24 hours before launch.

"I'm so happy/proud of my wife… the new cover for Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue!!!! unreal… so excited!!!!!!!!!!" said Roddick in tweet on his Twitter page.

Decker's mother was moved to tears by the news.

"My mom cried," Decker told People Magazine. "We're all on pins and needles before the issue comes out, because the cover is something all the girls want so badly. So it's nice for my family because they don't have to stress about it anymore."

Calling her cover shot, "the news of a lifetime," Decker described the events that led to her cover selection "the perfect storm."

"I still don't know the formula for the cover," said Decker, who makes her sixth appearance in the annual swimsuit issue. "It's luck, the perfect suit and perfect storm to get it."

An avid sports fan who often sits in her husband's support box during his matches, Decker recalls playing soccer and running track during her school years in her native North Carolina.

"I love the Carolina Panthers and more importantly, UNC basketball," Decker said. "I graduated on a Friday and moved to New York the following Wednesday."

The international exposure has launched the careers of many world-class models in the past and leaves Decker with an immediate pressing problem: finding the right outfit to wear on all the TV appearances to come.

"This celebrates the girls and their personalities," Decker said. "I think it's why they get such beautiful pictures."

Photo Credit: Sports Illustrated