Fernández began the season earlier than usual by participating in the Skate Canada Autumn Classic International. Although other skaters were now incorporating more quad jumps into their programs, Fernández stuck with two quads in the short program and three in the free program. He received 101.20 points for his short program after executing a quad toe loop-double toe loop, a quad Salchow, and a triple Axel, 11.52 points behind Yuzuru Hanyu. Fernández popped his first quad Salchow attempt during the free program, which was subsequently downgraded, but landed two clean quads and five triples to receive 177.87 points. He earned 279.07 points in total to overtake Hanyu and win the gold medal.