Derek Jeter's Girlfriend Hannah Davis is Cover Girl for the 2015 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue

Retired MLB and New York Yankees superstar Derek Jeter's new 24-year-old girlfriend Hannah Davis is the cover girl in the upcoming 2015 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. In the cover shot taken by Ben Watts, Davis is shown clad in a nude mesh bikini surrounded by the greenery of Tennessee's Blackberry Farm. She is seen pulling her bikini bottom down precariously low - in a pose that some critics suggest may be way too provocative for comfort.

Davis herself brushed off the controversy. She told Page Six: "There's controversy every year, so I think it's kind of just silly that they're making it out to be the big thing; I mean it's the swimsuit issue. There are far more scandalous pictures in the magazine if you open it up. It's a girl in a bikini, and I think it's empowering; I've been hearing it's degrading. I think the people who are saying that aren't feminists, because I think when you're a woman and you look at that picture and if you over analyze it as anything more than just a full picture, it's just silly to me."

Unlike last year's cover, which featured three models - Chrissie Tiegen, Nina Agdal and Lily Aldridge, the 2015 edition will have Davis appearing alone up front in the hugely followed sports magazine which according to the host of The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon "is viewed by more 18 to 24 year olds than the Super Bowl." Incidentally, last year's co-cover girl Aldridge also defended Davis' controversial picture, telling Page Six: "I think people are totally overreacting over the cover. It's a beautiful picture. Her bikini bottoms are in the perfectly placed position. It's fine. It's sexy and that's what Sports Illustrated is."

As for the famously very private Jeter, Fox News reported that the 40-year-old Yankee legend played the supportive boyfriend to Davis as she celebrated with fellow Sports Illustrated models at the Chelsea nightclub Marquee. As gathered by the news site, after the obligatory meeting with the press, Davis sat by his side all night, arm-in-arm.