Pestova Lands Sports Illustrated Cover

Single mother DANIELA PESTOVA has beaten tennis ace Maria Sharapova and German stunner Heidi Klum to land the coveted cover of the 2006 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.

The Czech Republic model not only graces the cover of the new magazine, which hits newsstands in America today (14FEB06), she also appears topless inside, as part of a cheeky beach shoot with Elle Macpherson, Rebecca Romijn, ELSA BENITEZ and YAMILA DIAZ-RAHI.

Pestova, who was once a lowly mail carrier in Teplice, says, "My heart is racing... I'm really happy. I'm shaking. The celebration starts now!"

The annual SI swimsuit issue is a top-seller - more than 64 million readers picked up last year's (05) issue, the 42nd.