Not even Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams slide as well as Iga Swiatek on clay: John McEnroe

Iga Swiatek powered her way into the third round of the French Open with a straight-sets win against Alison Riske on Thursday. The World No. 1 will face Danka Kovinic in the next round.

Swiatek has won a whopping 30 matches on the trot. She came into the French Open having won claycourt titles in Madrid and Stuttgart. The Pole is the firm favorite to go all the way in Paris and lift her second Roland Garros crown.

In an interview with Eurosport, American tennis great John McEnroe opined that, on clay, Swiatek moves better than even Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams. McEnroe highlighted the way the Pole slides into her strokes without losing speed or balance.

"She is an incredible athlete. I don't think I have ever seen a player - and this includes Nadal and Djokovic - that move, slide into their backhand, the open stance two-hander and the forehand," McEnroe said.

"I think Serena hits a bigger ball. I don't think she slides the way Swiatek does. I've never seen anyone so smooth on the clay courts."

"She is so full of confidence" - John McEnroe on Iga Swiatek

McEnroe lauded Swiatek's confidence level this year

John McEnroe asserted that the Pole is aware of how to adapt her game to different surfaces and is growing into an elite player.

"She is so full of confidence. I remember, because I do interviews with a lot of journalists and oftentimes I talk to the Polish journalists and they ask me about her and I say wait until she learns to play on hard courts and, she is starting to do that," the American said.

Swiatek, who lifted the 2020 French Open title, has won 46 out of the last 47 sets that she has played. The first Polish player to ever be ranked World No. 1, Swiatek won three titles on hardcourt (Doha, Indian Wells and Miami) at the start of the season and followed it up with two titles on clay.

McEnroe believes that travelling with a mental coach helped Swiatek grow in confidence. The seven-time Grand Slam winner stated that more female players are likely to employ mental coaches in the future, much like Swiatek.

"She is someone that has a mental coach travelling with her and thats really helped her. So, you'll probably see more of the female players do that in the future," he said.