World champion Javier Fernandez became the first singles skater to qualify for December’s Grand Prix Final by winning Rostelecom Cup in Moscow on Saturday.
Fernandez totaled 271.43 points following the free skate, erasing a .55 deficit to Russian teen Adian Pitkeev after the short program Friday. Fernandez prevailed by 10.96 points over Pitkeev.
Fernandez landed two quadruple jumps in his free skate and fell once. Pitkeev landed one quad and fell on a triple Axel.
Americans Ross Miner and Adam Rippon were third and fourth. Full results are here.
NBC and NBC Sports Live Extra will have Rostelecom Cup coverage Sunday from 12-1:30 p.m. ET.
Fernandez’s victory coupled with his Cup of China title two weeks ago earned him a spot in the six-skater Grand Prix Final, the most prestigious annual competition outside of the World Championships.
Barcelona will host the Grand Prix Final for the second straight year, meaning the Spaniard Fernandez will be a crowd favorite. He finished second to Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu at the event last season. Hanyu will hope to qualify for the Grand Prix Final after his finish at the last qualifying event, NHK Trophy in Japan, next weekend.
The Grand Prix Final qualifying picture is murky because of the cancellation of last week’s Trophée Bompard free skate following the Paris attacks. That Bordeaux event was one of six whose results play into who makes the Grand Prix Final.
The International Skating Union has not announced how the Grand Prix Final qualifying picture will be affected by Bompard. It’s possible the short program scores will count as final scores for Grand Prix Final qualifying purposes.
MORE: Olympic pairs champions pull out of Grand Prix series
Top Grand Prix season scores
1. Javier Fernandez (ESP) -- 271.43 (Rostelecom Cup)
2. Patrick Chan (CAN) — 271.14 (Skate Canada)
3. Javier Fernandez (ESP) — 270.55 (Cup of China)
4. Jin Boyang (CHN) — 261.23 (Cup of China)
5. Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN) — 259.54 (Skate Canada)
6. Max Aaron (USA) — 258.95 (Skate America)
7. Shoma Uno (JPN) — 257.43 (Skate America)
8. Daisuke Murakami (JPN) — 252.25 (Skate Canada)