There is no question any modern women who wins 10 or more slams is top 10 all time atleast, maybe even higher. No offense to Lenglen and Wills Moody, who I am sure were still great champions but competition back then was nothing like it has been in the Open era. Back then people, especialy women, were just starting to play tennis. Lenglen won 12 of the 13 slams she played, the only one she lost was a 1921 U.S Open 2nd round match were she lost to Molla Mallory (who by the way won a record that still stands today of 8 U.S Opens, but only because Lenglen who was by far the dominant player of the time never showed up there except this once, see what I meant about validity of records then when the distant #2 of that generation has a major slam record that still stands today), but there she retired apparently sick, some think she faked it, others give her the benefit of the doubt. Either way it could be argued she never lost a slam match she completed and won all 12 slam events she was able to finish. In fact it was not just the slams, she won every single match she played from 1919-1926 minus that one match. Helen Wills Moody lost her only ever meeting with Lenglen in a small event in France in 1926, and then she too did not lose a single match until her retirement with injury in the 1933 U.S Open final with Helen Jacobs. It was similar to the Lenglen defeat, some gave her the benefit of doubt that her retirement midmatch was legit, others thought like Lenglen she couldnt bear the thought of a true defeat so retired to save face. Either way it could be argued two back-to-back different women went 7 full years without a true loss of any kind, or at most only one each. You look at their slam runs, and you see them winning alot of their finals 6-2, 6-0 and 6-2, 6-2, and winning all their other matches by those scores or easier.
Also you read stories about how the other women apparently felt they were almost bully-like since Wills actually hit the ball hard, and Lenglen actually came to the net to finish points, and whined about that to the press. Apparently both of those things were foreign for female players back at the time, a women was not supposed to hit hard or come to the net, just hit moonballs back and forth, those two champions did not do so were like amazons compared to the other women of the time. Suffice to say the game from even the 50s onwards is very different, let alone today.
