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It was a statement win from the American, who became the first man from the United States to reach a clay-court final above ATP 250 level since Andre Agassi won the ATP Masters 1000 in Rome in 2002.

“It’s a big win for me,” Shelton said.

“To get a win on clay against a guy like that gives me a lot of confidence, and to be in an [ATP] 500 final over here in Europe, I’m really happy. I’ve been playing well here, I love the energy here in Munich and I’m going to go for that title tomorrow.

“I’m just competing and enjoying myself, that’s one thing that was lacking in Monte-Carlo last week. Not everything is straightforward and perfect on the clay. You’re going to get broken more, but you can also break more. Dealing with adversity and adapting makes a great clay-court player and I’m trying to learn day by day.”

Cerundolo started well , winning 100 per cent of the points on his first serve.

But while the American twice came within two points of losing the match in a dramatic second-set tie-break, he held his nerve to convert his fourth set point and take it to a decider.

Shelton was patient in the final set, and  pounced on an error-strewn 10th game from Cerundolo to earn a meeting with world No.3 Alexander Zverev in the  final.

Zverev, who won consecutive titles in Munich in 2017 and 2018, beat Fabian Marozsan in their clash 7-6 (7-3) 6-3.

The No.1 seed is aiming to equal countryman Philipp Kohlschreiber’s record tally of three Munich titles.

“It’s awesome, the entire week has been amazing,” Zverev said.

“The spectators have been really enjoying the weather, the new centre court and the new tournament. I’m enjoying it myself and hopefully I can have another great day tomorrow.”

Zverev sealed victory in one hour and 31-minutes and will be confident of winning the title in front of his home crowd.

“I thought I played quite a good match today,” he added.

“I lost focus once in the first set on my serve, but apart from that I thought it was a good match. I thought Fabian played extremely well and I’m just happy to be in the final.”