The women’s world number one, a five-time Paralympic gold medallist, 16-time Grand Slam winner and currently on an unprecedented winning streak of 396 matches in a row, is pictured naked in her wheelchair holding a tennis racket across her body.

There are also a number of different nude pictures of the 29-year-old.

Vergeer is one of six major sports stars to feature on the cover of the magazine alongside New York Knicks star Amar’e Stoudemire, PGA golf pro Camilo Villegas, Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard, Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi and the USA women’s water polo team.

Vergeer’s appearance in the magazine has sparked major activity across internet forums with The Bleacher Report stating: “She has a beautiful body. No complaints there.

“But doesn’t it feel just a little wrong to be ogling a woman in a wheelchair?”

However, ESPN The Magazine’s editor Gary Belsky, said the issue is meant to be a study and celebration of athletes’ bodies, not simply an excuse to see them naked like in the world famous annual Sport Illustrated swimsuit magazine.

“It’s not about swimsuits and hot models, it’s about bodies and athletes,” he said.

“We go to great pains that this is not the nude issue or the naked issue, it just happens the best way to show the body is nude.

“I mean, Michelangelo didn’t put David in a toga.

“The issue’s pages are filled with other athletes in their purest form.

“They come from different sports, but also different ages, genders, shapes and sizes.”

Belsky also pointed out that the magazine featured a disability athlete in its inaugural Body Issue last year as American triathlete Sarah Reinertsen - the first female leg amputee to complete the Ironman Triathlon World Championships - was a cover athlete.

However, Vergeer is the first wheelchair athlete to feature as a cover model and also the first Paralympian, as Paratriathlon is not a Paralympic sport despite serious efforts being made to add it to the Games programme at the Rio 2016 Paralympics.

Contact the writer of this story [email protected]