It marked the third consecutive match in which Nadal dropped the first set, having also rallied to beat Roger Federer in the Madrid Open semifinals and then losing in straight sets to Novak Djokovic in Sunday’s final. Nadal has never lost consecutive matches on his favorite surface.
The top-ranked Nadal couldn’t recall the last time he played so poorly on clay.
“But it’s impossible to play worse, so that’s one good thing,” he said.
Djokovic stretched his unbeaten start this year to 33 matches with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Polish qualifier Lukasz Kubot earlier. The Serb could take the top ranking if he wins the tournament and Nadal fails to reach the semifinals.
The event at the Foro Italico is a key warmup for the French Open, which starts in 11 days.
Nadal struggled with his forehand against Lorenzi, consistently sending routine shots from the center of the court into the net during the first two sets.
In all, Nadal committed 35 unforced errors to Lorenzi’s 34.
“In general it was bad. I felt slow, I felt my forehand was short all the time,” Nadal said. “He played smart, too — good serves, good volleys. I played bad.”
Nadal said he had problems adjusting to the difference in conditions from Madrid, where the balls fly faster because it’s at a higher altitude.
“And losing the final makes everything more difficult — you’re more tired and a little more sad,” he said. “But I’m in the third round and that’s very positive for me.
“I have to be confident with myself and tomorrow I have to play more aggressively with my forehand. … Tennis is like this. One moment you feel fantastic and unbeatable. But things change.”
Lorenzi used a serve-and-volley strategy at the start, then varied his game more as Nadal started making uncharacteristic errors to conclude long baseline rallies.
“I tried to vary my game and not allow him to get into any rhythm,” Lorenzi said after the 2-hour, 36-minute match. “I played with him for 2 hours and 10 minutes, then he took over.”
Lorenzi beat Madrid semifinalist Thomas Bellucci in the first round and has never won back-to-back matches at a Masters Series event. The crowd was clearly behind the Siena resident, chanting “Paolo, Paolo” after time he won a big point.
After trading breaks midway through the first set, Lorenzi won three consecutive points to take the tiebreaker, which ended when Nadal sent an overhead smash wide.
In the second set, Nadal wasted an early break before Lorenzi netted a backhand to hand Nadal a 5-4 lead, after which the Spaniard served out the set and never looked back.
Nadal’s match contrasted with the dominating performance of Djokovic, whose unbeaten streak trails only John McEnroe’s 42-0 start in 1984.
Many spectators were still getting to their seats by the time Djokovic wrapped up the first set in 23 minutes, and the 141st-ranked Kubot was so overwhelmed that he fell to the clay on his backside after chasing down one too many shots during the opening point of the second set.
The Pole finally won a game at 6-0, 3-0 when he landed a drop-volley winner, drawing an ironic applause from the crowd. But Djokovic wrapped it up in 67 minutes.
“It’s always great to have a straight-set win and spend less time on the courts and save some energy for coming rounds,” he said.
Djokovic never faced a break point, got 70 percent of his first serves in — with no double faults — and won all seven of his approaches to the net.
Overall, Djokovic has won 35 consecutive matches since Serbia’s Davis Cup triumph in December, tying him for sixth in the Open era with Bjorn Borg (1978), Thomas Muster (1995) and Roger Federer (2005).
Guillermo Vilas holds the Open era record for longest winning streak at 46 matches, established in 1977.
Djokovic’s next opponent will be 14th-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka, who overcame a challenge from Italian wild card Filippo Volandri 6-1, 3-6, 6-2.
Djokovic beat Wawrinka in the 2008 final here, the only time in the last six years when Nadal failed to win this tournament.
“He likes this court and these conditions,” Djokovic said. “It’s going to be a tough match.”
Also advancing were ninth-seeded Nicolas Almagro and Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina.
Chela beat former top-10 player Gilles Simon of France 6-4, 6-2 and Almagro defeated Sam Querrey of the United States 6-3, 7-6 (4).
In women’s action, Slovenian qualifier Polona Hercog eliminated 12th-seeded Andrea Petkovic of Germany 6-4, 6-3 and Greta Arn of Hungary defeated Italian wild card Alberta Brianti 6-4, 6-4.
Federer, who has never won this tournament, played Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France in a night match.
In women’s action, two-time champion Jelena Jankovic dispatched Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic 6-0, 6-3, and fourth-seeded Li Na of China, coming off the Madrid semifinals, ousted Lourdes Dominguez Lino of Spain 6-4, 6-2.
French Open finalist Sam Stosur beat Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 7-5, but two seeds lost: No. 8 Agnieszka Radwanska and No. 12 Andrea Petkovic.
Top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki was to open against Australian qualifier Anastasia Rodionova.
