Harkleroad reveals all in ego-boosting Playboy shoot

May 26, 2008, 12:30 GMT

Ashley Harkleroad of the USA reaches to return a shot to Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland during their match at the Pacific Life Open tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California, USA, 18 March 2008. Radwanska beat Harkleroad 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. EPA/PAUL BUCK

Paris - Ashley Harkleroad has followed up the low of gynecological surgery with the high of a Playboy shoot.

The 23-year-old, who lost in the first round of the French Open to Serena Williams on Sunday, spelled out some of the details of her recent shoot - and advised interested male parties to wait for the July 13 release of the August edition of the iconic magazine.

'It's Playboy. It's very classy, so...' she said coyly when queried about how much exposure was on offer.

The number 61 said she agreed to the photo pictorial few weeks ago as she recovered from an operation in which she lost one of her ovaries due to a cyst.

'An offer came to me. I thought '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.'

While Anna Kournikova created the template for tennis sex appeal, the comely Russian never got quite the full exposure that Harkleroad is tipping.

'I was like super-thin, thinner than I probably would have been,' she said of the LA sessions.

'We did it in four different days. When I don't play tennis I lose all my muscle, so I become like a size smaller in jeans and everything like that.

'I'll be the first tennis player ever. That's kind of cool.'

The once-married player who reached the Paris third round on her 2003 debut, said that posing for two indoor and two outdoor sessions was hard work. 'It was just a completely different experience. It was fun.'

She left her precise reasons for baring all a mystery, revealing only: 'You can read (the piece) and you'll understand probably more.

'I really didn't think it was that big of a deal. I'm proud of my body. I stay in shape and try to stay fit,' said the 54-kg right-hander.

'I'm just trying to represent a female athlete and her body. That can be sexy too.'