At the special event the two women, who had never met before despite both been raised on the Gold Coast and attending the same high school, were presented with the honour by the city's Mayor Ron Clarke, himself a sporting legend having formerly beein one of the world's top distance runners.

The civic ceremony, which was also attended by Queensland Premier Anna Bligh, gave Pearson and Stosur the opportunity to catch-up and share tales of their respective triumphs.

Pearson produced arguably the individual performance of the World Championships in Daegu when she won the 100m hurdles in 12.28sec, the fourth fastest time in history, while Stosur caused a major upset when she beat Serena Williams, 6–2, 6–3, at Flushing Meadows in New York for her first Grand Slam tournament singles title.

The event took place close to Helensvale State High School, where Pearson and Stosur both attended.

"We don't know each other at all," said Pearson (pictured below left with Bligh), who was celebrating her 25th birthday.


"I usually do follow tennis, but I didn't even know she was playing last week.

"I wish I could have seen it."

Stosur, 28, admitted that she was enjoying the attention.

"I don't get the chance to get home often so to have this time is very special," she said.

Clarke, who is set to lead the Gold Coast delegation to the Commonwealth Games General Assembly in St Kitts and Nevis on November 11, where they or Sri Lankan rivals Hambantota will be awarded the 2018 Games, explained that the tradition of awarding city keys by Australian cities stretches back several decades.

"I don't know where it started but way back in 1975 when I was given the keys to city of Melbourne with [golfer] Peter Thompson who just won his fifth British Open championship, I found it quite a thrill," he said.

"It's about your own city recognising you for what you've done and its the novelty of it."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]